Fear of Scear
by Skyhitz
Summary: Without much of a choice (thanks to Owen) Noah entered the brand new competition Fear of Scear, a mystery game to promote the new theme park Scear. All the smartest contestants of Total Drama were invited, not all accepted. When Noah starts to think he might actually have a shot of winning it all takes a turn for the worst, who figures right? Warning: possible character deaths.
1. Prologue

**It might start a little slow with no actual interactions, but that'll change in the next chapter! Keep in mind that this is only a prologue. ;)**

**I hope you'll enjoy my story!**

**And I'll say it now for all the chapters to come: I don't own Total Drama. I just really like it! ^/^**

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There Noah lay in bed, reading a book, on a boat, somewhere between home and what could be literally anywhere. How he came here? Well that's simple: Owen, his so called "buddy" from Total Drama World Tour visited Noah every now and then. Noah didn't really mind, nor did he look forward to it. Though he did have to admit that once Owen stepped by the otherwise so lonely and boring house became more lively and fun. Owen loved every comment Noah made, even when it was at Owen's own expense. Actually, nothing seemed to be a problem to him. He didn't mind when Noah was grumpy, mean or even when Noah just plainly ignored him. When Noah asked him about this Owen simply answered that it was because Noah was his best buddy, it was only natural that he forgave him. (not that those things even bothered him much to begin with) This all made Noah believe that he might had found a best friend that would always accept him and even stand beside him no matter what.

But then Owen just had to screw it all up.

One day Owen visited Noah early in the morning, he didn't do that a lot, since he knew Noah would be fast asleep around this time. This day was an exception however. Owen was almost certain that Noah received a invitation to a new show called: "Fear of Scear". He heard from Izzy that all the smartest players in Total Drama would get the invitations. Naturally, Owen thought, Noah was one of them. Without Noah knowing he looked in the mailbox and searched for the letter. Once he found it he read it of course. It said that Noah was found to be one of the smartest competitors of the show and that they wanted him to star in their show because of his intelligence. The show was called: "Fear of Scear" because it was a mystery show. All the contestants would be placed in a mysterious village. The contestant that solved the mystery would win, it was as simple as that. And the mysterious village Scear was actually a theme park that just opened. And who better to test the mystery than some of the smartest most tactical people on TV? That would make the theme park famous in no time!

Owen wasn't sure if Noah would join, since he'd been a little grumpy about Total Drama. It wasn't a secret that he didn't last very long in the two seasons he'd been in. And in the second season he was voted out just because he just made the mistake of calling Alejandro an "Eel dipped in grease swimming in motor oil".

That's why Owen felt a little sad for his buddy. He needed a chance to shine! And this was the perfect chance! (that's what Owen thought anyway)

There was one way to surely get Noah to participate, and that was if Owen answered the letter himself! Genius! Noah would be so happy! (and again, this was just what Owen thought. Probably a bit too optimistic, but well.. it was Owen.)

And that's how Noah got here on the boat. At first he'd been mad at Owen for not giving him a chance to have a say in participating in the show. I mean, HE would have to compete after all, not Owen. Still he just had to forgive his buddy before he left for the show, since he knew Owen only had the best intentions.

Ugh, he really didn't know what to expect though. He didn't even know who else from Total Drama would be competing. All he did know was that this was already a lot more trouble than it was worth.


	2. Not a yellow brick road

For some reason Noah expected to be greeted by an annoying host once he stepped of the boat, and after that be greatly disappointed in the facilities.

His expectation was completely wrong though. Noah was not sure if that was a positive or negative thing yet. There was no host, none. He was just dropped off somewhere, no greetings, other campers or whatsoever.

He did saw a trail leading into a forest.

'At least it's not a yellow brick road,' Noah mumbled under his breath. Even though he knew there

was no-one to hear his comment. Making sarcastic and/or witty comments was just what he did, the size of people surrounding him didn't change that.

He didn't get to take a lot of baggage with him, just one small bag actually. First he was skeptical about how little he could take with him, but now he was glad that he didn't have much to carry. Because, well.. he wasn't athletic at all, and lazy on top of that.

Without wasting time on useless thinking Noah started following the forest trail. I didn't take long before he came at an junction, here he found tree other people. Cody, Bridgette and Gwen. They were just about to take the road to the left when they noticed Noah.

'Sure you guys wanna go that way?' he said sarcastically. 'Maybe there's a hungry lion there waiting for lost children.'

'We're sure,' Gwen said, already annoyed.

'Hey Noah,' Cody said. 'You didn't see Sierra anywhere did you?'

'Why? Are you looking for your sweetheart?'

'No way!' Cody stuck his hands out defensively. 'I just wanna make sure she isn't somewhere stalking me. I'm not sure if she's invited or not.'

'I hope not.' Noah said shivering.

'Me too.' Cody agreed.

'Do you know which path we should take Noah?' Bridgette asked. 'We didn't get any directions.'

'Me neither. Why did you guys wanna take the left one?'

'Gwen had a feeling it was left, and I trust her.' Cody answered.

'Yeah because the last time you did that you didn't end up with a bunch of masked lunatics or whatever.' Noah didn't look up to see how Gwen or Cody reacted on his comment. Instead he took a closer look at the junction. The path to the left looked like it had been used more. There were more footprints and it looked more clear from branches and bushes.

'I agree with Gwen though, we should definitely take the left one.' Again Noah didn't wait for an answer but just took off. The others just shrugged and followed, it wasn't unusual behavior for Noah or anything.

'Shouldn't we leave a clue for the others that come after us?' Bridgette asked.

'What if this is already the first challenge?' Cody answered 'Maybe it isn't smart to help them.'

'You just want Sierra to get lost.' Noah interrupted calmly.

'Cody!' Bridgette scoffed at him. 'I know she can be annoying but that's no reason to be mean. I'll go make a clue. Don't wait up, I'll catch on with ya.'

The others just kept on walking.. silently. Cody was hoping to never see Sierra again (he had big trauma's) Gwen pondered if she would feed Noah to a lion if they came across one and Noah just didn't care. He did wonder who else would be in the competition though. He hadn't expected to see Bridgette as he didn't considered her as one of the brighter ones. Well, she was nice and definitely not dumb, but she could also be very VERY clumsy at times.

'I'm back guys, and look who I found!' Bridgette called while running up to the others. Running with her was Topher.

'Fancy meeting you all here,' he said. What he got in return were just some blank stares.

'Who are you again?' Cody asked.

'I am the amazing..-'

'..- Chris wannabe from Pakitew Island.' Noah finished Topher's sentence, what got him an annoyed look in return.

'I am NOT a wannabe.' Topher exclaimed. 'I'm just the better host, and Chris just can't accept that.'

'Why are you in this when your big sadistic idol isn't here? You know Chris isn't hosting this. Right?' said Noah, completely ignoring Topher's last comment.

'I just said that I'm NOT just a wannabe or fanboy!' Topher said irritated. 'I don't get why the producers want you on this show. I can only imagine..-'

'..-I'd stop there if I were you, I don't think your brain can withstand more thinking.'

'Ugh, why did I join again?' Gwen pondered as she tried to ignore the boys.

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**Hey readers! As stated in my profile this is my first fanfiction ever. Let me know what you think by writing a review! Yey! :D (If you want to of course, I won't force anyone ;)**

**Sorry, this chapter isn't much longer that the first one. I just wanted to upload it already, because I'm impatient like that haha. :P The chapters will probably get longer with each one.**

**I hope the characters come out right and do nothing that doesn't fit there personality, if that's not the case please say it so I won't make the same mistake in the next chapters! ^^**


	3. Ride on the hay wagon

**Ali6132: ****Thx for my first review ever! Yey! :D I agree that Topher is pretty one-dimensional. I put him in because I do think he has potential to become more than just a Chris wannabe! ^^ And you are correct that Lindsey and Lighting won't be in it, I was still a bit doubting on which characters WILL be in it, but I think I have the final selection now! ;D Noah and Sammy are also favorites of mine! Their meet up will come soon, VERY soon! :D**

**It's fun to see so many people from different countries visited my fanfic! I'm honered~ ^^ I made a list with the characters that will be in this competition and it also states why I chose them. (I might upload it later if people are interested, a few of the reasons will probably be mentioned in the story though) Some might make you say: "What! Why did you choose him/her? He/she isn't clever/smart at all!" Then I'd probably agree with you in a way, but remember that not all of the invited Total Drama contestants actually accepted. So they had to fill the empty space with other "less smart" people. (since there are a total of 20 people competing) Don't worry though, you won't see people like Lighting showing up! ;)**

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'Why do we have to walk all the way?' Noah complained. 'My feet feel like worn out shoes made from sandpaper. Doesn't the maker of this show realize we live in the 21th century? We have cars!'

'I WILL make him shut up if he keeps on going.' said Gwen.

'I got no problem with that!' Topher added.

'Noah does have a point though,' said Cody, who wasn't quite as tired as Noah but got where he was coming from. 'Aren't we like stars? Why do they make us walk all this way?'

'Maybe the host is even worse than Chris was.' Gwen said pessimistically.

Topher wanted to react, but decided at the last second that he could better keep quiet. He had to make them (especially Noah) realize that his whole world didn't revolve around Chris.

Everyone stayed quiet for a while as they continued walking. Eventually Noah couldn't keep up anymore. His physique was terrible, plus they didn't even know where there were going and if they would have to be there at an specific time. So why even bother?

'You all keep on going,' he said while sitting down on the side of the road. 'I'm gonna take a rest.'

'Already? I didn't see that coming at all.' Gwen said sarcastically.

'Well have you seen what happened to me before the Awake-A-Thon? I almost died and Owen had to give me CPR, I'm not risking that again.'

'Ahh yeah, now I remember.' Bridgette said while putting her finger at her chin. 'Wasn't that also the challenge when you kissed Cody?'

'WE DIDN'T KISS!' Both Noah and Cody answered at the same time. Cody was almost blushing at only the thought of that embarrassing moment when Noah was just plainly irritated from the mention of it. He was asleep at the time! How could he have known what he was doing?

'Ugh, just go okay? If there is a meeting up place I'll see you all there.'

'If you're sure.' Bridgette said while Gwen and Topher already started walking.

'I'll see you later Noah.' Cody waved farewell.

And there Noah sat, alone in the woods for what could even have been more than half an hour. He had found a spot where he could lean against a big tree, and it was actually pretty nice to be honest. He liked the peace and quiet, plus this really reminded him of a fantasy-themed videogame he once played..

'Hey Noah!'

Suddenly his thought were interrupted by a hay-wagon passing by. Driving it was an old farmer he didn't know. No, the one who called him was one of the four people sitting on the hay. Probably Ella, since she was the one who was waving enthusiastically. Wait.. did he see that right? Ella? The Disney princess? He was really beginning to wonder if this contest had the smartest contestants at all or that it had just been a joke. The other people on the hay-wagon were Sierra (he already pitied Cody), Scarlett and Alejandro, who seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation. That couldn't be good.

'Want to ride with us?' Ella asked in a fluttery tone. ' This nice man knows the way and offered to take us!'

'Since it means no walking, sure.' Noah got up and took a seat beside Ella, ironically she was probably the most tolerable of them all. If she didn't start to sing at least.

'Hey mi amigo!' Alejandro said. 'Are you doing okay?'

'Don't even pretend to care.' Noah said dryly. 'You don't need to convince anyone here that you like me.'

'Why would anybody need convincing?'

'You voted me off in World Tour?'

Alejandro waved it away as if it was nothing. 'That was just a game my friend, no hard feelings.'

'Whatever, you seem to get along with Psycho Brainiac over here. Planning to take over the world together?'

'Your sarcastic comments seem to just be a defensive mechanism to hide your fear. Your fear is justified though, so I won't judge.' Scarlett said. She seemed to be a bit more like how she acted in the earlier episodes of Pakitew Island, except that her psycho personality was clearly visible in her eyes and speech now.

'A physiatrist too now huh?' answered Noah in an unimpressed tone. 'Why don't you use some of that knowledge on yourself for a change?'

'WAIT UP!' suddenly a voiced yelled from somewhere behind. We had just passed another junction and from the other road two siblings came running, desperately trying to catch up. Noah couldn't help but snicker at the sight, it was fun to see someone else struggle for a change.

'Where did you two come from?' Ella asked. 'Did you maybe go right on the junction instead of left?'

'Didn't you see the clue that Bridgette left?' Noah asked. Bridgette couldn't have lied about leaving a clue, could she?

'Oh we saw it!' Amy said irritated. 'But Samey thought it was a trap so we went the other way instead!'

'That's awful thinking Samey.' Ella scolded.

'Yeah,' Samey said timid. 'We just didn't know.'

It was as clear as glass washed in sprinkling water inside a bucket made out of pure crystal that it was Amy that hadn't trusted the clue, not Samey. Why didn't anybody notice that in Pakitew Island? Well except for Jasmine and Scarlett.

'Isn't the one who agrees with the fool even more stupid?' Noah asked if it was a genuine question. 'And you were supposed to be the smart one? Tssk, Tssk.' Noah shook his head as if he was very disappointed in Amy, what made her face turn a terrifying dark shade of red.

'Don't mind him fair lady,' Alejandro said while pulling up Amy in the hay wagon. 'Here, you can sit with me.'

'Nice to know that REAL GENTLEMAN still exist.' Amy said, having calmed down a bit. 'Samey, you can sit next to that sarcastic idiot.'

Samey sighed. 'Sure Amy, I was going to.' The hay wagon was getting pretty crowded now and Samey had to sit way closer to Noah than they both would have liked.

'Sorry,' Samey said to Noah while Amy and Alejandro were talking on the other side of the hay wagon. 'I know there isn't a lot of space.'

'You worry about small things like that?' Noah asked. 'That's pretty pathetic you know, there is no need to be so insecure.'

'I guess you're right.' Samey answered still a bit timid. 'Thanks for sticking up for me back there.'

'I wasn't really complimenting you or anything.'

'But you embarrassed Amy,' Samey shrugged. 'And it still felt like you were sticking up for me, even if it was in your own sarcastic way.'

Did made Noah almost blush a bit, nobody ever thanked him like that. Especially not when he didn't even meant to make a nice gesture. 'Well, I guess you're welcome then.'

'Samey! Did you see my Cody?' Sierra intervened impatiently. 'I miss him so much!'

'No, sorry Sierra.' Samey said.

'I did.' Noah said, not sure if he was betraying Cody now. He shrugged that thought off, it was not like she wouldn't have found out on her own.

'Why didn't you say anything before!' Sierra said enthusiastically hyper and mad at the same time, a terrifying mix. 'Where is he? TELL ME NOW!'

'Up ahead, we'll catch up soon enough.'

'Don't worry my Cody-sweet we'll soon be together again!' Sierra yelled. 'Go faster!' she then screamed at the old farmer riding the hay wagon.

'We'll have to apologize to that poor man later.' Ella said with a worried expression.

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**Sorry Cody, I just had to add Sierra. She can be quite smart you know, and her info-finding skills are just terrifying. And why Ella is in it? Well that's because of what I mentioned above, and maybe for another reason, or maybe not.. Who knows? Maybe I just felt like writing about her, or maybe there is an actual good reason... maybe, maybe, maybe..~**

**This chapter is quite a bit longer than the last one, I hope you guys like it! 3**

**..**

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**By the way: If you read this while also being busy on a fanfiction of your own and don't have an image/cover for it.. You can ask me! I love making covers hehe. I made the cover for Fear of Scear myself by just using copy/paste and adding a few effects, but I can also draw myself, whatever you want! :'D**


	4. Rushing for Cody

**Ali6132: ****Thanks so much! :D I know Izzy has a higher IQ (probably when she's Brainzilla) and because of that she did get an invite for the show, (that's how she knew about it in chapter one) but she is one of the people that presumably didn't accept it. This doesn't mean she won't make an appearance at all, I'm still figuring things out. Since I'm kinda writing the story as I go and haven't planned everything out yet.**

**I don't like calling her Samey myself either but I did it for a reason, trust me! / And I didn't want to make it too fluffy between them yet, since this is the first time they actually met in person. And it just didn't seem to fit Noah... not yet anyway. ;)**

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'I could fall asleep here, the hay is unexpectedly comfortable. ' Noah said while taking on a more relaxed pose.

'Should I sing a lullaby?' asked Ella.

'No!' all on the hay wagon shouted in response.

'It was just a figure of speech.' Noah said.

'It was nice to suggest Ella, but it really isn't needed.' Samey added to make their reaction seem less harsh.

'Okay, maybe some other time.' Ella said a bit timid. She really felt like singing. I mean, This whole thing seemed like a fairy tale so far, and what is a fairy tale without a good song?

'Maybe you could sing for us later this evening,' Alejandro said in his usual charming tone. 'You must have a great voice if animals like it so much, I'd love to hear it live.'

'Why don't we add a campfire and a guitar while we're at it.' Noah said sarcastically.

'Great idea!' said Ella excited. 'We could sit around it with the whole group so we can get to know each other better!'

'Correction, so everyone can get to know the Pakitew contestants better.' Scarlett said. 'Most of the others already met in the other seasons.'

'Hey, not everyone participated in All-Stars.' Noah said, feeling a bit insulted.

'It seems I made a mistake in my calculation, I didn't add the losers in it.'

'Now that's just..-'

'..-Just let it go Noah, we shouldn't fight.' Samey interfered.

'I guess you're right. Poking a caged monster with a stick might not be smart after all.'

'You think I'm caged?' Scarlett laughed. (a tad too evil) 'Don't worry you aren't capable of upsetting me, even if you'd actually try. Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.'

Before Noah could even react Sierra began yelling. 'You all are being selfish! Talking about singing, sleeping and yourselves while we should be finding Cody instead!'

They all just stared at her, she was completely psycho. This was the point where Noah regretted his decision of letting her know about Cody.

'Hey Scarlett, how did you get on this show?' Amy asked, ignoring Sierra's words since she didn't had clue of what to do with it. 'Didn't you get legal issues?'

While Amy, Scarlett and Alejandro started talking about Scarlett betting everyone's lives for money Sierra lost her patience.

'Cody can't be far ahead of us nutcase, we'll catch up in minutes with the speed we're going.' Noah said to her, as an lousy attempt to calm her down.

'That's not fast enough! I need my Cody now!' Sierra stood up and made her way to the driver of the hay wagon.

'That's not a good sign.' Samey said.

'I think we should hold on tight.' Ella added.

'We definitely should.' Noah agreed.

It wasn't seconds later that Sierra had taken over the wheel and rallied up the horses pulling it as much as she could. The hay wagon started racing forward, while losing much of its hay in the progress.

'This isn't relaxing anymore!' Noah said as his body tensed up and he desperately tried to hold on to the wagon. Even Scarlett showed a panicked expression and Amy pressed herself against Alejandro for support.

'I don't know if I can..-' Samey was cut off by a bump in the road that made her fall on Noah. Awkwardly she tried to get up but a second bump made her lose balance again.

'Just hold me, that way we won't fall as easily.' Noah said.

'Okay I will,' Ella answered instead of Samey as she grabbed Noah's arm. Samey hesitated a bit before doing the same.

Not before long they saw a village rising up, surrounded by a huge wall.

'Stop Sierra!' Scarlett yelled. 'If we hit that wall with our current speed the force of impact will be immense!

Sierra got out of her Cody-obsessed state and also became aware of the danger facing them. 'I don't get them to stop!' she said panicking

'Pull the reins harder!' Alejandro answered. 'You can do it Sierra!' Normally he would have gone up and take over the reins himself but the wagon was very unstable, it was too risky, even for someone ad great as him.

Sierra pulled the reins back as hard as she could.. and it worked. The hay wagon came to a halt so quickly that everyone sitting on it fell over from just the force of it.

'We survived!' Samey exclaimed happily as he hugged the person closest to her out of relieve, which was Noah.

'I thought we were going to die.' Noah said, trying to catch his breath. He was so dazzled from the ride that he didn't even notice the short hug Samey gave him.

'We were almost crushed too you know!' the group heard someone say from behind the wagon.

'Cody!' Sierra screamed happily as she jumped off the wagon and ran up to him. 'I missed you so much! I just couldn't wait!'

'Even so you should be more careful! It's not only you that's in danger when you go all crazy!'

'I just can't think straight when I know I'll see you soon, I just love you that much my sweet.' Sierra hugged Cody tightly.

'Aww, what a sweet reunion!' Ella said.

'Seriously!?' Noah reacted in disbelief.

'I'm never riding the same vehicle as Sierra again, no matter what it is!' Amy said.

'As long as Cody not with her at least.' Alejandro added.

'That some logic I can get behind.' Scarlett agreed.

'Hey Noah, are you okay?' Bridgette asked.

'Sure,' Noah got out of the wagon and walked up to the group that he had shared his safer part of the journey with. 'Aside from the giant headache and the almost dying thing I'm fine.'

'It was pretty scary for us too.' Cameron said. 'We didn't have much space to dodge with this wall blocking our way.'

'Cameron, right?' Noah asked, recognizing him from season 4 Revenge of the Island. When Cameron he nodded he went on. 'Are there others that have already arrived? And what's up with this wall?'

'Cameron, Harold and Heather arrived here before us.' Bridgette answered. 'And apparently there will be a total of twenty people competing.'

'So counting you guys we are still missing six people.' Cameron added. 'As for why we can't get inside, it's one of the rules. We can't go in unless the whole group is together.'

'Oh great,' Noah said sarcastically.

'Where did you guys find that wagon?' Bridgette asked.

'It isn't ours, we were just riding along with some old farmer...' He hadn't thought of that farmer until now. When Noah searched for him he found that Samey and Ella were already apologizing and helping him on his feet. 'He must have had quite a scare too,' Noah muttered. He then turned back to Bridgette and Cameron. 'May I ask where you guys got all that information?'

Bridgette pointed to the wall. 'Look for yourself, there are rules written on that wall.'

Noah walked over to the plate with rules.

RULES:

#1: Do NOT ENTER the village without being complete as a group.

-This group exists of 20 people

#2: No outside help will be given for survival.

#3: Never speak of the outside world to the villagers.

#4: The main rules can be found in the central square, these must always be upheld.

#5: Extra rules can be found all over the island and must be upheld once having been read or heard.

#6: Never break these rules unless when given permission to do so.

Noah sighed. 'I guess we'll have to wait for the rest to arrive then.'

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**Letting Sierra take over the wagon was an idea from my sis. I could totally picture it so I just had to add it! :D**

**14 of the 20 people that are competing are revealed! Here's a quick list:**

**TDI:**** Bridgette, Cody, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Noah.**

**TDWT:**** Alejandro, Sierra**

**TDROTI:**** Cameron**

**TDPI: ****Amy, Sammy, Ella, Scarlett, Topher.**

**No host this time around, they have to do it all on their own. And I know what you're thinking: "Will the campfire happen?" My answer to that is: "I sure hope so, I wish I could join myself!"**


	5. While waiting for the others

**Ali6132: Thanks! I already like the idea of one person enjoying my fanfic, but I do it admit it would be cool if even more people read it! ^^ (guess I'll just have to wait and see if that'll happen) I hope the last six won't disappoint you! I did leave a bunch of characters out that I liked, but adding everyone would just be too crowded. ;)**

**Amelia: Yey, another review! :3 I guess I'm a bit obsessed too, since I've seen the World Tour episodes way~ too many times and I know almost all the lyrics of the songs. (my sis and I sing them sometimes xD) You should watch the rest of Pakitew Island, it's not the best season but still it's pretty fun! Thank you very much for the compliment! I plan to write lot's more! :)**

**The whole crew is almost together! Until now the mood has been mostly sarcastic (thanks to Noah) but I feel some fluffiness in the air today..~**

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Once everyone who was present at the time was notified of the rules the waiting for the other contestants started. Some wanted to search immediately, but Noah convinced the group it would be best to wait first. What if someone came here using another road, they'd have to search for the searchers again and would waste enormous amounts of time.

The old farmer was in contrast to us allowed into the village. I tried to take a sneaky peak at the village when the gates opened for the man, but there wasn't anything special to be seen. Well, except for houses that were mostly build out of wood, probably medieval.

'Hey it's Dawn and.. Jo!' Cameron called out when two other people came strolling out of the forest. Great, only four people left now.

'Why don't you losers go inside?' Jo asked in her usual "cheery" tone.

'We can't get in,' Bridgette answered.

'Why not?' Jo ansked and already this conversation had lost Noah's interest. He leaned against the wall and observed all the people that were present.

Bridgette was explaining the rules to Dawn and Jo. Sierra was overloading Cody with -probably useless- information, he didn't seem to mind this as much as he used too though. Alejandro was talking to Heather, they seemed a little distant though.. Amy seemed to have found a friend in Scarlett and Topher. Ella, Cameron and Harold also seemed engaged in conversation. Gwen was scribbling on her sketchpad and Samey... Samey was sneaking off into the woods?

Noah didn't really want to get up but his curiosity got the better of him.

'Hey Noah,' Harold said, noticing Noah making his way to the woods. 'Weren't you the one that suggested waiting?'

'I won't go far, I just want to look into something.'

Harold shrugged and got back to his conversation while Noah disappeared out of sight. _Where has she gone?_ Noah thought, but he didn't have to look far. Samey had found a tree trunk to sit on that had a great view of the nearby lake. Noah wasn't sure what to do now. It wasn't like him to stick his nose in other people their business but otherwise he would have followed her for nothing.

'Tired of the group already?' Noah asked while coming closer to Samey. Her surprised reaction led Noah to believe that she didn't hear him coming. Quickly she wiped her eyes. Had she been crying?

'Oh hey, Noah was it? I'm okay, just wanted to see more of the forest.' She gestured Noah to take a seat next to her. 'You can join me if you like, it's a better view than that huge wall.'

'True,' Noah agreed while taking her up on her offer. He didn't say anything else, and neither did Samey. They just sat there watching the sunlight sparkle on the surface of the lake. It didn't feel awkward though, at least for Noah. He liked the peace and quiet. After like 5 minutes Samey broke the silence.

'Why did you follow me?' she asked.

'I don't know actually, I guess curiosity took the best of me.'

'But well.. you didn't ask anything.'

'I could, but what's bothering you is none of my business really.'

'But I thought you were curious?'

Noah shrugged. 'I can pretty much see it in your face. Besides, you're acting like Samey again instead of Sammy. I would have to be blind not to notice that.'

Samey looked stunned. 'How did you..? I mean, we never met before today.'

'I watched Pakitew Island.' Noah answered, not seeing the problem. 'I guess I'm more observant than most people, but still, it was hard not to notice it.'

'Well, I guess you're right. I'm just Samey.' Samey's shoulders slumped and her face saddened.

'I only said that you're ACTING as Samey.' Noah corrected her. 'I didn't say it's who you are. I thought that was something you had found out in Total Drama already, you made real progress there. Now you seem to be back at square one. I don't know what happened between the end of Pakitew Island and now, but it's not too late to turn back to Sammy.'

Before Samey could react Duncan suddenly came into view. A few steps behind him was Courtney, blabbing about her being an CIT and whatever more.

'Just shut up will you!' he said while clutching his head as if he was in deep pain. 'Oh hey Noah, and.. cheerleader chick?' Duncan couldn't help but grin, Noah alone in the woods with a girl? A cheerleader at that? 'Sorry, are we interrupting anything?'

'Not at all piercings,' Noah said. He pointed to where the wall was. 'If you seek other people, than that's where they are.'

'Thanks Noah,' Courtney said. 'Some other company would be a welcome change!' She and Duncan walked away leaving Noah alone with Samey.

'I think it would be best if we headed back too,' Noah said. 'It wouldn't be good if we were the last ones to arrive.' He stood up but before he could walk away Samey grabbed his arm.

It was at this point that Noah noticed that Samey hadn't said a word after his speech of her acting like a second twin. Did he.. upset her? For some reason that thought -with the addition of her touching his arm- made him very uncomfortable. She didn't say anything for like 3 seconds, but those felt like minutes to Noah.

'Sammy?' he said hesitantly. It was as if Samey only then noticed what she was doing. She quickly let go of his arm and her cheeks grew a bright red.

'Uh, I'm sorry I just wanted to say..' Samey stuttered. Before she could find the right words though Amy walked in, and she wasn't happy.

'Really Samey? Ugh, you are always so useless! Everybody is waiting, the last four have arrived!' She grabbed Samey's arm and started to drag her away. 'They are also waiting for you twerp, weren't you the one who suggested that? WAITING?'

'Yeah sure, I'm coming.' Noah said while holding in his irritation. Normally his answer would have been sarcastic, but nothing really came to mind at the moment. He was still thinking about what Samey was trying to say, it seemed pretty important to her.

Once they reached the gate everybody seemed to be looking in their direction. Including the new faces Noah hadn't seen yet, Dave and Sky from Pakitew Island. Ugh, he didn't like being in the spotlight like this, especially when..

'What were you guys doing there anyway? Heather asked.

'Our sarcastic brain has found himself a girl,' Duncan smirked.

'No way,' Amy answered before Noah could say anything. 'It's true that Samey is useless but she's not that much of a loser.'

'Sure, act like Sammy is the loser of you two.' Noah said while rolling his eyes.

'Wait, I'm confused.. do you like Samey?' Cody asked Noah.

'Ugh, can we just get inside the village please?' Noah groaned, he really didn't care for useless talk like this.

'Sure, mister "I'm trying to dodge the question", it's totally obvious you like her.' Heather said smirking. She was enjoying Noah's awkward position way too much.

'How interesting this conversation might be.. Noah is right,' Alejandro said. 'We should enter the village.'

'I really hope they have lots of food there,' Cody said. 'I'm starving!'

The twenty contestants gathered in front of the door. They did a quick headcount to make sure nobody was missing. When they were certain they wouldn't break any of the rules they asked the gatekeeper for permission to enter.

And then he opened the door..

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**And that's the end for this chapter! I hope y'all enjoyed the fluffiness between Noah and Sammy I dropped in there. That was originally meant to come later, but when I see a chance I just have to take it! And now Samey has some time to think about his words..~**

**Also tadaa~ The reason I kept referring to Sammy as Samey is because she keeps acting like it, once she steps out of her twin sisters shadow she'll get her name back! :3**

**And the whole crew is here! Hooray! :D I'll put the newest list here again:**

**TDI:**** Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, Duncan, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Noah.**

**TDWT:**** Alejandro, Sierra**

**TDROTI:**** Cameron, Dawn, Jo**

**TDPI:**** Amy, Sammy, Dave, Ella, Sky, Scarlett, Topher.**

**I know lots of people you might have expected to join aren't here. It could be that they were invited but declined the invitation, maybe I'll answer why they did that sometime in the future. ;')**

**Ohh and btw. If there are any pairings (could also be on a friendship level, or something that's canon) between these people that you really like you could mention it in a review, with a reason why they would fit together would be nice. I won't say for sure that I'll use it in my story, since I got ideas of my own too, but I'd love to hear some other opinions! ^^**


	6. Peep behind the curtain

_**Zorbo678: Thanks so much! Well I'm slowly building up to the "possible deaths" warning I made! The mood will get more eerie in a few chapters since I still have some building up to do! ;D Your comment really made me laugh by the way! xD I won't give any spoiler (which would be hard to do since I'm not sure about who'll die yet myself) but I do like your guess, it has a good reason behind it! xP**_

_**Ali6132: I could see Dawn, Sammy and Ella as friends.. I think I'll use that! ;D (they are also some of my favorite characters too!) I like your suggestion, pushing Amy of a bridge must feel very satisfying! xD (I kinda wish I could do it myself) Don't think I'll put in the story though, mainly because there isn't a bridge in my story.. yet. xD I just saw some pictures of Tophella on Deviantart the other day, they looked kinda cute together! ^^ Don't think it'll work out with what I have in mind though, but I change my ideas all the time, so anything can happen really! xD I can't say for sure that Amy won't get a bf, but don't worry: I don't like her either, so I won't allow her to be more happy than Sammy! ;) That's the best line in both the Despicable me movies! I love how she says that! xD And I like the sound of Nammy, it sounds cute and better than Nommy or Noammy. xD**_

**The cover for this story changed, I just like making these things hehe! ;D Do you guys like it? It gives a more "fear" feeling to it in my opinion, something that'll fit better when the mystery kicks in. And it shows a more cute scene between Noah and Sammy, first you just saw Sammy looking at a book Noah was reading. xD Well, that was my review-replying and rambling for now, enjoy the story! ;D**

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'There aren't any attractions or rides?' Sierra was disappointed. 'This doesn't look like an amusement park at all.'

Noah sighed but before he could make an sarcastic comment Harold answered.

'Actually it said in the invitation that is was a THEME park. The theme in this case is obviously the middle ages, although there are lot of faults. For example there isn't a church in sight, and the buildings are in a way better state than..-'

'We get it Harold,' Sky interrupted him. 'Thanks for explaining it.'

The village was Medieval themed, just as Harold mentioned. There were lots of wooden houses and the roads were sandy. Also the people that seemed to live here wore clothing from the same era. It wasn't exactly correct, Harold was right about that, but Noah liked it better this way. It was also more fair to the people that didn't know much about the middle ages.

In the total drama series there wasn't anyone else to be seen on an island except for Chris, Chef, the contestants and the interns. Here there were lots of people, from old to very VERY young. In the distant Noah saw some kids play tag. It seemed normal from afar, but when he looked closer he noticed something odd. One of the kids had something wrong with his leg and couldn't run with the others. He supported himself with a walking stick, and tried to play along.. but it was no use. He didn't seem to be enjoying it at all, he probably felt really left out..

Noah couldn't just stand by, without paying attention to what the other contestants were doing Noah made his way to the playing kids. He then walked up to the boy with the walking stick.

'Do you like playing this game?' Noah asked instead of the usual "are you okay?" that the boy probably heard.

'I used too,' the boy said, trying to be tough. He hinted at his leg that was wrapped in bandages. 'But it's harder now, I try very hard. But I can't get catch up.'

Noah nodded. 'I could see that, you were going very fast considering you have to walk with that stick.' The kid smiled at this compliment. 'Do you play this game a lot?'

The boy nodded. 'This or hide-and-seek mostly. We used to play a game called Vikings a lot too since I could play along too. But the others got bored of it. Even Nathaniel didn't want to play anymore. It's okay though, I get that.' The boy faked a smile. 'So I play along with this game as good as I can.'

'That's not good enough is it?' Noah asked but he didn't wait for an answer before going on. 'What is your name?'

'Timmy,' the boy answered.

Noah called the other playing kids to come. They had already seen Timmy talking to the stranger, so they noticed his call immediately. The children gathered around him, curious of what he wanted to say. 'Don't you know other games that you can play together with Timmy?'

'We don't wanna play Vikings anymore!' One of the younger girls said in a spoiled tone. Noah noticed that she had a few big scars on her arm. Did she play that rough? 'And it's not our fault that Timmy can't play!'

'But there are more games than Vikings that Timmy can play along with. For example, have you guys ever heard of the game called: Peep behind the curtain?'

The kids shook their heads. 'How do you play it?' One of the kids asked.

'It's very simple. First we must find a wall..' Noah looked around till he saw a perfect wall of a nearby building. 'Here, follow me.' The children followed, not sure what to expect. Noah drew a line a few foot from the wall. 'Everyone stand here,' Noah said. 'Except for Timmy, you stand here, before the wall.'

~ 

The other contestants were still standing in the central square near the fountain. Sky had just finished reading all the rules aloud when suddenly Cameron spotted Noah with the kids.

'What is Noah doing over there?' he asked in nobody in particular. It did however caught the attention of the rest of the group.

'Maybe he's playing with the kids? Cody said.

'That doesn't seem like Noah at all,' Courtney shook her head. 'There has to be something else to it.'

Samey had just engaged in a conversation with Ella, but they cut it off once they saw everyone looking at Noah.

'That's so cute,' Ella said. 'He's like a kindhearted prince! I didn't know Noah liked kids!'

Samey just looked, the words of Noah still going through her head. _"I only said that you're ACTING as Samey. I don't know what happened between the end of Pakitew Island and now, but it's not too late to turn back to Sammy." _She had seen all of the Total drama seasons, and in preparation for this contest she had watched them all over again. She knew for sure Noah would be selected for this contest because of his high IQ, so he was one of the cast were she payed special attention too. She already noticed that he was observant, witty, smart and far from athletic, but nice? To kids? Or even nice to her...? It was if she had met a whole new Noah today, but at the same time he didn't seem different at all. She didn't know why, but it all felt kinda.. strange? She decided she had to find a chance to talk to him again, she still hadn't thanked him for his advise after all.

~ 

Noah hadn't noticed the stares of the other contestants, neither had the kids. They were too excited to learn a new game. Noah continued explaining. 'Okay, the goal of the game is for you all to touch the wall, or as the game says "peek behind the curtain". Timmy is going to stop you guys though.'

'How?' a boy asked. 'He can't possibly stop us all.'

'Well one of the rules of the game is that Timmy can't see you move. Timmy will turn his back to the wall like this.' Noah showed the kids by turning his back to them shortly. 'And that's the only time you can move. Once Timmy says "looking now" it means he'll turn around, he can say this as fast or slow as he likes. And you all have to freeze, because if Timmy sees one of you moving than you have to start over at the beginning of the line! The winner of the game is the one that touches the wall first, but look out! You won't be able to stop fast enough if you run!'

The kids all nodded, excited to play. 'Does anyone have questions?' Now they all shook their heads. 'Okay than stand behind the line and we can begin!'

Noah played along the first two rounds, the kids immediately loved the game. And they laughed when Noah had to freeze on one leg and he almost fell down, causing him to start over at the beginning of the line. Once the kids got it they even switched places with Timmy.

Noah decided to return to the other contestants. And he actually felt pretty good about himself, now all the kids were enjoying themselves, including Timmy. It was only now that Noah noticed the surprised stares of the other contestants.

'Where you actually PLAYING with those kids?' Courtney asked stunned, voicing everyone's thoughts. 'Instead of looking at the rules? What if playing with the kids wasn't allowed?'

'But it is allowed, so what's the problem?' Noah shrugged.

'Noah getting a girlfriend and playing with children on one day?' Duncan said. 'I think you're on the wrong show man.'

'I was just showing them a new game so that the injured kid could play along. Nothing special or anything. Are there any interesting or new rules? I missed that, as you all clearly noticed.' Noah wanted to change the topic immediately. He wasn't stupid, he knew this was out of character for him. And he could punch himself for getting in the spotlight again. This had to stop!

'We must find our own places to sleep,' Sky said. 'And we have to earn our own food, so we'll have to work.'

'Like we actually live here,' Ella said. 'Pretending to be in a fairytale, isn't that wonderful! Oh and we were told that there will be a campfire, they have one every three days! It's a celebration of life!' Ella twirled around. 'Isn't that magnificent? The next one will be tonight!'

Noah rolled his eyes. His sarcastic comment on the hay wagon would actually come true. He was happy to notice that the other contestants had started to talk among themselves. He wasn't the center of the attention anymore.

'We should all find a place to sleep before that though,' Sky said a bit worried. 'There aren't enough beds in the inn, and we don't want anyone to sleep outside.'

'Were do we begin to search?' Noah asked. 'Are we just going to ask the villagers?'

'I could help with that,' a man suddenly said from behind him. Noah turned around in shock, he hadn't heard the man coming at all. The man seemed to be around 40 years old and wore a dark cape that was in bad shape. (he apparently wore it a lot) He was quite tall and actually.. all his clothes were darkly toned. On the top of his head sat a hat with two subtle feathers on it. Overall the man looked a bit suspicious, but he also beamed out a feeling of authority and knowledge. 'You can live with me for the time being Noah.'

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**Waaaah a scary tall man that knows Noah's name and is inviting him to stay with him for an unknown reason? Seems like the perfect end to a chapter! (sorry, for the teasing.. :P)**

**Lots of OC's here, but they won't be the main focus of the story. Although they are a huge part of the mystery of course. Did you all enjoy the scene with Noah and the kids? It seemed so cute in my mind that I just had to use it!~ ^^ I took the name Timmy from the movie "A Christmas Carol". In the Disney version there is a little kid called Timmy (a son of Mickey) who is really sick, cute and walks with a stick. (watch that version if you don't know it, it's gold, I watch it every Christmas!)**

**Got any tips or things you would like to see? Just ask me! I love hearing your opinions! :)**


	7. Houses for all

_**Ali6131: Thank you! Now the mystery starts, so I hope it'll become even more interesting in the next chapters! ^/^ Well it was more that he reminded me of him, and Tiny Tim is just so cute~! 3 It will be explained why Noah acted like this later, even though it's kinda obvious maybe. xD Cool that you like the theme, since it'll be a big part of the story from now on. :D**_

**Hey y'all! Still like my story? :3 If there is something you miss in it, know something you think will make it better or if there is something that you just really want to see in fanfic? Try asking me and I'll consider all options. No promises though! ;) You can ask even the stupidest things, like if you know a name for one of the children Noah "played" with. (like the spoiled girl that didn't want to play Vikings! ;)**

**I just hit a 1,000 views on this fanfic! Just a side note that makes me happy! :D**

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Noah looked up at the tall man standing before him. 'Living with a suspicious stranger that calls me by my name even though we've never met? Of course!' he said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

'Hey I'm doing you a favor kid.' The man said, clearly he didn't like sarcastic comments. 'You can also sleep outside if you want.' The stranger moved in closer. 'But that's not gonna make you solve the mystery now does it?'

This peeked Noah's interest, since he still wasn't sure about how much the townsfolk knew. One of the rules on the wall said that they couldn't speak of the outside world to the villagers, which would include the contest. But hinting at the mystery like this would mean that the man would want to help him, or it was just a trick.. No, Noah still wasn't convinced. 'Who knows, maybe you're the cause of the whole mystery. The evil villain himself!' Noah exaggerated this bit as if this was a Scooby Doo scenario. 'I'm not sure if I wanna take that chance.'

The stranger didn't seem amused, but he also didn't seem alerted though. What he probably would have been a little if he would be "evil". So Noah decided that taking him up on his offer would probably be the best for now. He didn't want to bite so soon though.

'I'd first like to see you help the others. Or was the offer excluded to me?' Noah asked quickly.

'No I'll help, if they're not as troublesome as you.'

'Noah, troublesome?' Heather asked theatrically. (she apparently caught up on the conversation) 'That would be a first. But you know where we can stay the night?'

'Not only to stay the night,' the man said. 'Didn't you read the plates over there? Y'all have to work here if you wanna survive. I know who has extra space available here, if y'all follow me, I can show you.'

'Hey!' Heather called out to the other contestants. 'We've found someone that can help us get a place to live.'

Noah had to admit that Heather wasn't dumb. By calling out to everyone she seemed to be helping the others, and she didn't mention anything of the outside world in front of the stranger. She pretended to seriously be looking for a place to live in a village like this. If only the rest of her personality wasn't that rotten. She just wasn't one to be trusted.

Everyone decided that this was the easiest way to solve the problem at hand, so they followed the stranger trough the town.

'Is there a house of stone available?' Dave asked the man. 'It's more hygienic and warm.'

'Sure,' the man said pushing Dave to the stone house we just reached. 'The Pottery, one of the richest people in town and he has a free room made just for you. Have fun!' The man continued walking right away and we followed, leaving Dave in a state of bewilderment.

'Did he say pottery?' Dave whispered to himself. 'Does that mean I have to work with clay or can I just sell them?'

The next house where they stopped was a house of a weaver. 'Even though this work might not be physically hard, don't underestimate it.' The man said. 'There are three beds available.'

'That's for me Cody!' Sierra said. 'I'm the best weaver there is!'

'I'll join too, if you don't mind Sierra.' Cameron said.

'You will?' Gwen said stumped. 'But in All..-'

'-It's okay when Cody is around.' Cameron cut her off. 'Don't bring up things off the past, since **not everyone here** is aware of it.' He put extra emphasis on some words to let Gwen know that he stopped her from breaking the rules.

'Sure,' Gwen noticed now too. 'I'll pay more attention to my company and what I say Cameron, thanks.'

It seemed that their friendship outlasted All-Stars, good for them, but troublesome for the others that wanted to win. Friendship is just another kind of alliance really.

'Oh, I forgot the Baker,' the man said suddenly. 'Anyone interested in that? The couple there has one bed available. You work early and get off early, also the smell is delicious.' He added.

'That's sounds okay to me.' Sky said. 'I wake up early anyway and I could use extra time to train, where is the bakery?'

'Across from the Pottery.'

'So across from Dave, great.' She pondered while taking off to the bakery.

'I also forgot the inn that you saw at the central square. They have a place available for a help chef and two waitresses.'

'Hey Amy, I think that would be great for us.' Heather said to Amy. 'And why don't you join too Alejandro?' She added. Noah didn't know if it was because she still liked him (what didn't seem likely since they were pretty distant earlier today) or if it was because she wanted a slippery eel like him to be close by. Not a bad idea actually. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Amy seemed to doubt if she would take the offer. Heather was the same kind of person as her and would make a strong ally. But she wouldn't be able to drag Samey with her as she usually did. Then she seemed to think of something that made her decision. 'Yeah I'll join!' she said while high fiving Heather.

'I think my skills are better to be utilized someplace else. Topher seems like a good replacement for me though.' Alejandro said.

This irritated Noah. Heather's intentions were always more clear than those of Alejandro. Was he trying to shove Topher in Heathers new alliance? Why?

'Sure why not,' Topher said. 'You would have to be mad to turn down a offer to work with two pretty girls.' Heather could gag at this comment, while Amy's ego seemed to get a boost from it. The threesome made their way back to the central square. What left us with 12 people to divide over houses. The stranger continued walking and the group silently followed, taking in the village that surrounded them. The group passed places like the Butcher and the Tailor, maybe they had no space to give away?

The next stop was the Smithy. Outside you could see a strong man hitting melted steel into the form of a blade. 'This seems like a place for you tough guy.' The stranger said to Duncan, obviously not knowing how Duncan had acted in All-Stars. Otherwise he would probably had set him in a petting zoo.

'Yeah that's for me alright, I needed a new knife anyway. So why not make it myself?' Duncan seemed way too happy with the chance to be the tough guy again instead of the sweet idiot that burns down a "cottage" to prove a point.

'Also close is the guardhouse, they have plenty of free rooms.' the man said pointing to a small tower at the other side of the street. 'We have need of protectors of the law around here.'

'That sounds perfect,' Jo said. 'Anyone want to join me?' Nobody reacted on her offer, what made her just shrug and take off. 'Your loss.'

'Is there someone who doesn't mind to get their hands dirty and loves helping others survive?' The man said while the other contestants walked to the next destination.

'That would be me!' Harold said. 'I'm a scout and a true hero!'

'Then they can certainly use you on the farm. You'll be the one that makes sure we don't starve.'

'A farmer?' Harold said a bit surprised. 'Isn't there a-'

'And moving on,' the man said to the others leaving Harold behind. Clearly this stranger wasn't really interested in the opinions of the group.

'Sir?' Courtney asked when she caught up with the man. 'Is there any minstrel around here that has a free room perhaps?'

'I don't know if he has any extra beds,' the man said. This was the first time that he actually showed a little doubt. 'I guess you could try if you want, you'll probably find him in the inn. Can you find your way back?'

'Sure, thanks sir!' Courtney said. Obviously she wanted to make a good impression on the stranger by being polite. Also working for a minstrel wasn't hard work at all and she could sing all she wanted.

'Next are the Gardener and the Chirurgeon,' the man said. 'They live beside each other so that the Chirurgeon can easily use the herbs the Gardener grows. Anyone here likes nature?'

'I would like to learn more about plants! Who'll come along?' Bridgette said.

'I would love to join!' Dawn answered.

'That sounds wonderful!' Ella said in a fluttery tone. 'Why don't you come too Samey?'

'You really want me to join?' Samey asked.

'Of course you silly,' Ella answered pulling Samey with her towards the house with Dawn and Bridgette following them.

'And now we only have four left.' The stranger said to the ones that stayed behind. 'You guys are picky or just silent. Got any preferences?'

'What place holds the most knowledge here?' Scarlett asked.

'We have a library, if you wanna spend time with dusty old books.' The man said. 'Three free beds if I remember correctly, separated over two rooms.'

'I'll join Scarlett,' Alejandro said, what immediately rang alarm bells by Noah. 'Maybe you should come too Noah.'

This took Noah by surprise, what could Alejandro be planning? He was still thinking about the offer to stay with these untrustworthy lunatics when the dark clothed man answered for him.

'No, Noah will stay at my place.' He said solemnly, leaving no room for discussion. Noah loved it that it was now Alejandro that looked surprised. It was like he had to keep himself from commenting on this. Noah didn't understand it either though, why would this man want him to stay at his house so badly? It kinda creeped him out to be honest, but he couldn't deny feeling a bit honored at the same time because the man chose him instead of Alejandro or anyone else for that matter.

'What about you?' the man asked Gwen.

'No thanks,' Gwen said. 'Got any place that's a bit more unusual and quiet?'

'Maybe the Locksmith?' The man said. 'It's a dark place owned by the Heartling twins, they drive very good business though.'

'Sounds good to me,' Gwen shrugged. 'Where is it?'

'You can come along with me, it's close to my house. The library is also this way, so you two can walk along.' He added for Alejandro and Scarlett.

It didn't take long before Noah was left alone with the stranger. And yes, he still hadn't asked his name at this point. His house was close to the Locksmith, Library and the Gardener and Chirurgeon. Which meant that Sammy wasn't far away too. Wait what? Why would that matter? Noah thought. It also meant being close to Ella, Dawn, Bridgette and worst of all Alejandro and Scarlett. Also Gwen, but he didn't mind her that much.

'So.. What's your profession?' Noah asked the man that seemed way taller now that he was alone with him.

'Never mind that.' The man said. He stopped just before his house and turned to Noah. 'And, have you made your decision kid?'

'You seem to have it made it for me already.' Noah answered in his usual sarcastic tone.

Again the man wasn't amused. He just kept staring at Noah with an unreadable expression. Noah had to admit that this man was good, he pretty much pushed Noah into a corner. Theoretically Noah could still refuse, but it just didn't seem the right thing to do anymore. And he was on a show for crying out loud! It could never be worse than economy class in World Tour. There also wasn't any real danger anyway.

'Okay, I'll stay with you.' Noah said. 'But do answer me this. I know you heard the others mention my name, but that can't possibly be the only reason for you to choose me. So what's the reason?'

'You'll find out eventually,' the man answered with a smirk while he opened the door. 'For now I'll just show you your room for the next few days.'

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**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter even though it was really just putting people in houses. I gave quite a bit of thought about the places where they'll be staying, but I'm still not 100% percent sure about some of them. Anyways do you guys suspect some possible alliances already? (also, do you like those?) And do any of you know why the stranger chose Noah or what Alejandro is planning?**

**I love hearing you guys guess, but you can also just wait and see. All will come in good time! ;)**


	8. The mystery man's intentions

_**Ali6131: Well that's the views it generally has, but when I count the views per chapter it doesn't add up. So I'm not sure how it works. Maybe reviews/follows will increase over time? I'm already happy with the four different people that have given reviews and the 3 followers and 1 favorite I have at this point though! Thanks for your many reviews by the way Ali6131! I'm always curious about what you'll think of a chapter! ^^ I also can't wait for more Nammy moments, they are fun to write! :D I'll keep it a secret for know if things will turn out okay for Noah, I do hope so though since he's one of my favorite characters! ;) You make a good point with those alliances! Let's see how it goes... since I'm not 100% sure how it'll turn out myself. xD Id did put them in those houses with a reason though. ;)  
**_

_**GeM216: Thank you! I try my best! :D And I don't think sounding like Izzy is a bad thing hehe, she's awesome! ;) I could see the mystery man being a mapmaker too actually, it would fit him! xD I chose another profession though, you'll find out soon enough what it is! (just read the next sentence! ;D)**_

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'You're a candle maker?' Noah exclaimed when he noticed all the candles in the room. There was even a giant rack with multiple candles hanging from it. No fancy colors or shapes, just normal whitish sticks. 'That seems way too.. peaceful. I don't know what to think of this.'

The stranger laughed at his surprise. 'I used to be a merchant, if that makes you feel any better.'

'Why quit?' Noah asked. 'That seems like a way more fun and rewarding job.'

'I like the closeness in this village, and wanted to stay and help.' The man hang his coat and walked towards one of the only candles that was actually burning. 'And as fate would have it they needed a candle maker, so that's what I became. It's not the only thing I do around here though.' He gestured Noah to come closer and pointed at the candle. 'You know what kind of candle this is?'

'Never paid that much attention to candles, but sure, I'll look.' He examined the candle. It seemed pretty normal at first, just a bit bigger than most. One thing did strike him as odd though, there were little markings on the candle. And knowing the mysterious man it wasn't meant as decoration. Noah looked at the unlit candle next to it and examined the markings, it were small numbers. 'It's a clock, isn't it?' Noah said.

The man nodded but it seemed a little odd. Almost as if he was testing Noah. 'Do you know of a way you can turn it into a timer?'

'Do you mean to measure time or more like an alarm?' Noah asked.

'The second one. Just make it so that it gives a warning when a certain amount of time has passed.'

This seemed like a riddle, and Noah liked riddles. You could put chemicals in the wax that would cause the flame to change color.. 'No, that's not it.' Noah mumbled as he shook his head.

'What isn't it?' The man asked curiously.

'Oh, putting in chemicals to make the flame change color.' Noah said absentmindedly, he was still thinking of another way to solve the problem.

'Why do you think that won't work?'

'Someone could easily miss the color change, nobody would want to have to look at the candle constantly.'

'So what would alarm someone without having to look at the candle.'

'A sound, obviously.' Noah said insulted. Saying it aloud did help him get the answer though. He was thinking of a way to activate the sound, but since it was a riddle and the knowledge of the man probably equaled how they thought in the middle ages he had to think in a more.. simple way. 'Just stick something in the candle, the answer is as simple as that.'

'Elaborate,' said the man with an approving nod. Okay, he really was testing him.

'Just put in a nail or something at the desired time, it'll fall once the candle has melted far enough causing a sound that would alarm a person nearby. I would put something under it that would increase the sound though.' Noah sighed. 'Why are you testing me?'

'What makes you think I am?'

'Ugh,' Noah groaned. 'There you do it again.'

'What am I doing again?' The man smirked a bit now.

'Just stop it.'

'Stop what?'

'Really!?' Noah said a bit irritated. 'Why do you want me to even say it? You know that I know already!'

Now the man only arched his eyebrow. As a reaction Noah just kept staring at him, not letting out another word. It didn't take long for him to get tired of this little game they seemed to be playing though, why was he even doing this?

Noah let out a big sigh. 'If you want to have it spelled out that badly.. I guess I shall comply. You obviously observed me while I was examining the candle clock, you give me a riddle to solve and you constantly ask me questions that'll make me say my thinking process aloud.'

'If you know this much than it won't take you long to deduce my intention behind it.'

'You want to test me.'

'I think you already established that. Think further, why would I want to test you?'

'I don't know, there can be many reasons.' Noah said. This game the candle maker played irritated him but also made him curious. The man just didn't quit testing him, even when he knew Noah knew he was doing it. 'Why don't you just tell me, I'm growing tired of this.'

'Name reasons you can think of,' the man answered, not reacting on Noah's latter sentence.

'You wanna know how smart, observant, knowledgeable or whatever I am. Or you want to make sure you made the right decision by asking me to live with you. What I still don't get myself,' Noah added. 'Or you are testing me because you want help with solving the mystery in this town..'

'That's enough.' The man said. 'You have good sense, and you use it well. You're not ready to solve the mystery yet though.'

'And why's that?' Noah said, even though he knew that he wouldn't get a straight answer from the man. What turned out to be right of course.

'I'll tell you tomorrow. First I'd like you to unpack what little stuff you have and take a look at the room you'll be staying in. After that you could explore the town a little.'

'What am I, a dog?' Noah said. 'You can't control every little thing I do.'

'So you're saying that these actions aren't what you want to do? It seems a sensible order of business if you ask me.'

'Sure, but..-'

'-going on.' The man cut him off. 'You can have dinner at my house. And last there will be a campfire tonight. And just like your princess friend said it's a celebration for life. I'd recommend joining.'

'I'll think about it.' Noah said in his usual deadpan voice. 'I'll go check my room now, if you don't mind.'

The man watched Noah go up the stairs and nodded approvingly. He didn't nod at Noah this time though. No, right now he was pleased with himself, and his decision to choose Noah. He had been right, the kid was a smart one. His attitude would need some changing, but the man didn't see that as a problem he couldn't take. There was one thing that kept him wondering though.. why didn't he ask for his name?

Noah's room was bigger than he had imagined. There was a bed, dresser, closet and even a desk for him to use. The design was overall pretty simple, and had a dark brownish tint to it. Something that felt a little odd though was that the room looked like it was recently cleaned, but not recently used. It would mean that at least the candle maker would have been aware of the contestants coming here. What was kinda obvious knowledge, since all the villagers were all actors. Noah had decided he would that fact not get in the way of his reasoning though, since they couldn't talk about the outside world to them anyway. They were acting, and if Noah wanted to get to the bottom of what the mystery was and how he could solve it.. then he had to play along.

Still he couldn't help but find the recent cleaning and the desk odd. They didn't have a desk in every room in the middle ages. So it could be that they were just really loose with keeping the facts of the theme, or would they want him to use it. Or more specifically it would be the candle maker that wanted him to use it. He was looking for someone to stay here, and had prepared everything for that person. He even showed up in the central square at exactly the right moment to choose someone. But why? I mean, there were still other free spaces available in the town, like in the library or the guardhouse. How could he be so sure that someone would say yes to staying with him? And why did he choose Noah?

'I already regret going along with him, that's not a good sign.' Noah muttered to himself. Well, thinking more about it wouldn't help now. He didn't have enough information about him to deduce all his intentions. He didn't even know the man's name! Not that he wanted to ask it though. This because he was a bit stubborn, but also because there was a high chance that he wouldn't get a straight answer anyway.

Even though Noah didn't want to follow the candle maker's orders, he did want to explore the town.

'I'm going to the library,' Noah said to the man as he headed outside.

'Why start with some dusty old books?'

Not sure if he was actually interested or if this was another one of his tests -it was probably the latter - Noah decided to just answer. 'I want to visit it before those psycho eels have a chance to mess it up.'

'You don't trust your fellow contestants?' the candle maker asked.

'I would be a fool to do otherwise.'

* * *

**I never meant this conversation to be this long! I hope it was still enjoyable even though Noah was the only Total Drama character in this chapter. Next chapter he'll visit Scarlett and Alejandro, that should be fun! xD**


	9. Fishing in the library

_**Ali6132: Thank you! Sorry that I got that wrong! ." I corrected it! :)**_

_**GeM216: Well even Noah was surprised when he heard his profession! ;) I must admit I haven't thought of his name myself yet. Naming him Bob would be awesomely funny! xD I do think his name might be a bit more serious though. ;') No problem, I just like reading reviews so much that I want to answer immediately! :D Don't know how other writers can't do that actually. (or maybe I'm just overly enthusiastic? xD) Also: Thanks for the favorites~! :D**_

**I wonder how this'll turn out. I must say that I find the idea of Alejandro and Scarlett working together terrifying! They could accomplish way~ too much! xD**

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'Noah, what a surprise,' Alejandro said. 'What are you doing here?'

'Fishing,' Noah said sarcastically. He had been in the library for over fifteen minutes now. He had already gathered quite a few books that would help him investigate the village. But it was just too good to be true. When Alejandro wanted to leave he spotted Noah searching through the bookshelves.

'For information I suppose?' Alejandro said with a smirk. 'What a coincidence, I was about to do the same.'

'Well grab a book of your own I'd say.' Noah said while turning his gaze back to the book he was holding. Of course he knew that Alejandro meant something else, he just didn't feel like giving him the attention he wanted.

'I got plenty of time for that.' Alejandro leaned against the bookshelves and looked at the cover of Noah's book. 'If you were interested in healing people you should have gone live with the Chirurgeon.'

Noah sighed and closed his book. 'What do you want?'

'I want us to help each other.'

'There are multiple problems with that. One: Helping you would result in me getting stabbed in the back. Two: You'll play all the info you get along to your other untrustworthy alliance members, what would leave me in an enormous disadvantage.'

'I admit that problem one is pretty likely to happen anyway, even if you won't join forces with me. I won't let anyone get in between me and winning. What brings us to problem two. That would also be an disadvantage to me. C'mon mi amigo. You're not still mad about me voting you off in World Tour are you?'

'I'm not one to hold grudges, but that doesn't mean that I'll forget.' Noah gathered the books he had collected and put them in his bag. 'I'll return these, don't worry.'

'Need some distraction?'

'Yeah,' Noah said. 'Living with a nut job is pretty tiring. Not that I have to tell you, you live with Scarlett after all.'

Alejandro shrugged. 'She's not that bad, but your host is huh? Already regretting your decision to stay with him instead of us?'

'Don't you remember? I didn't really have a say in the matter.'

'You could have said no.'

'Than he would probably have found another way to get me to stay with him. He's strangely.. obsessed with me. It creeps me out to be honest.' Noah shivered a bit.

'That is strange indeed,' Alejandro said. 'Any idea why he was so fond of you staying with him?'

'I really don't know, but it's not like I'd tell you if I did have a clue.' Noah smirked while taking off. 'I'm not gonna lose this time Al.'

'I wouldn't be so sure if I were you.'

Once outside Noah looked at his watch. (what he luckily brought with him, otherwise he'd have to rely on a candle clock) It was late in the afternoon, what meant that he still had like an hour and a half to spend before he should go back to the candle maker's house. He didn't even want to imagine what he would get served for dinner, but at least it was something. He hadn't been allowed to take any food with him and even if he had he would probably still have accepted the man's offer. It would be best to play along with him for the time being. The candle maker seemed to be a person that you'd rather have as a friend than as an enemy.

Noah decided to walk around the village so that he would get to know it a bit better. It would keep him from getting lost, and it would also help him unravel clues faster if he could link it with a place. First he went to the central square, what was actually quite close to the house he was staying in. He hadn't noticed before because they took a major detour with the group. When he looked around the square he saw a large fountain where the rules could be seen and a pretty giant fire that they were building for tonight. Also the inn was nearby. _Probably not a bad place to visit if you want information.._ Noah thought. In the middle ages lot's of folk would get a drink at the bar and tell the bartender what happened to them, maybe that was also the case here. The only disadvantage was that some of the worst people would be in there.

'Let's just hope they left,' Noah muttered to himself when entering the inn. His hope turned out to be far from the truth. He saw all of them as soon as he stepped inside. Heather, Amy, Topher and Samey? What was she doing here? It didn't matter though. Noah just plainly ignored them as he walked up to the bar. There stood an middle aged man, probably the owner of the place.

'Hey kid,' he said to Noah. 'Something I can help you with?'

'Yeah, I'd like to ask something if you don't mind.'

'Sure, all I want in return is your name.'

'It's Noah,' Noah said.

The man took his hand and shook it roughly. 'I'm Richard, but you can also call me Rich haha!' This seemed to be a joke he had made way too many times. But at least the man was straightforward, not like Noah's host.

'Could you tell me the name of the candle maker?' Noah asked.

'Theo. He'd probably like you to call him Theodore though. Why didn't you ask him yourself?'

'I doubt he would have said it, he's vague about everything.'

This seemed to amuse Richard. The man laughed and slammed his hand on the bar. 'Yeah that's Theo alright. So you're the poor soul that has been forced to live with him?'

'What?' Noah said shockingly. 'That just..-'

'Nah, I'm just kidding kid.' Richard smiled, he seemed to be the real joker. 'He might seem vague at first, but he's one of the best you can get. I would almost go as far as to call him the unofficial mayor of this town.'

'You don't have a real mayor?'

'Everything we do, we do together. We take care of each other. And because that's only natural for us we don't need someone to call the shots. And if there is a decision that has to be made, then we vote over it in a village meeting.'

'Then why go as far as calling the candle maker, I mean Theodore, your unofficial mayor?'

The barkeeper shrugged. 'He just keeps an eye on all of us. That's how he knew who all had extra rooms to offer you youngsters. He also solves the small problems and makes sure were safe.'

'Safe from what?' Noah was getting more and more interested in this town. It seemed so peaceful but at the same time something was wrong. He just couldn't really place his finger on it yet. One thing he was sure of though was that Theodore -he still had to get used to calling him that- was a major part of it.

'Hey Rich!' Heather suddenly interrupted our conversation. Probably because she didn't want "her informant" to spill all the information he had to me. 'I see you've met my friend Noah?'

'Yeah, he's a real curious one.' Rich answered with a smile. 'Not that I mind though, I like talking.'

'I'm not your friend Heather,' Noah said dryly.

'Sure I am, or are you still mad about the first season?' Heather said avoiding the name "Total Drama" because of Rich his presence.

'Do I seem like the guy who holds grudges?' Noah asked. 'You and Alejandro are way too much alike.'

'You've spoken to Alejandro? Why? Did he invite you to an-'

'-yes he did.' Noah cut her off. 'What's up with you people? Why the sudden social change towards me?'

'Have you considered us meaning it well?' Heather asked. 'Or at least me.'

'No I haven't. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to take my leave.' Noah turned to the barkeeper. 'Thanks for the talk Richard, it was nice meeting you.' And his information.

'No thanks, you can come anytime you like. A friend of Heather is a friend of mine.'

Not long after Noah left Samey followed him outside.

'Hey Noah,' she said when she caught up to him. 'Could I talk to you? If you don't mind, otherwise I can just..'

'Again worrying about small things,' Noah sighed. 'Don't you remember what I said to you on the hay wagon? There is no need to be so insecure.'

'Oh, yeah. Sorry.'

Noah arched his eyebrow.

'Or I mean..' Samey blushed a bit, just realizing that she apologized again for something little. She had to fight the urge to apologize again for apologizing. She took a deep breath and calmed down. 'Could I talk to you?'

'Of course,' Noah gave her a smile as approval. What Samey returned with a smile of her own. Noah waited for her to ask a question but Samey still seemed to hesitate a bit.

'I just wanted to thank you,' Samey said. 'That's it.'

'Thank me for what?' Noah asked. Of course he knew what she meant, but for some reason he felt like he had a responsibility to help Samey. Maybe that's how Jasmine felt on Pakitew Island?

'For your advice, you know. What you said to me at the lake.'

'Why thank me for advice when you don't even put it too use?'

'Well I.. It's just not..' Samey awkwardly grabbed her other arm and looked at the ground. 'It's just not that simple Noah.'

'I doubt that's true.' These words made Samey look up. 'Not that I'm calling you a liar, but it just seems you are making things way too complicated for yourself. You can't continue to live as her slave, you have to realize that, Samey.'

'Why are you calling me that? You know that I'm Sammy.' That Noah used the name that Amy gave her seemed to have hurt her quite a bit. Noah almost felt a little guilty, but then he remembered himself that it was for her own good.

'I'll call you Sammy once you start acting like her again.'

'But what if that would mean that I'd lose every chance at friendship?' Little tears had formed in Samey's eyes. 'Every chance at a normal life?'

This kinda shocked Noah. What had Amy done to this girl? To her own twin sister? 'Look,' Noah put his hands on her shoulders. 'Normally it's not like me to say these kind of things, but your life already isn't normal. You're living Amy's life instead of your own. And of course you won't lose all your friends. Jasmine surely still sees you as her friend, and well.. I could be your friend too I guess.' Ugh.. this really made Noah feel awkward, acting like this was way from his comfort zone. He just.. didn't like to see her cry?

'Thanks Noah.' Samey wiped away her tears. 'I'll remember that. You're actually really nice.'

'That I'm sarcastic doesn't mean I'm heartless.'

'Yeah I know, I noticed.'

That made Noah blush a little, normally people never spoke to him like that. 'Just don't tell Alejandro or Heather, they would probably find a way to use it against me.'

'Of course.' Samey said. 'Will I see you tonight at the campfire?'

'Probably.' Noah shrugged. 'Unless if you go blind.'

Samey giggled. Noah was acting as his sarcastic self again. That made her feel comfortable, since the conversations between them had been quite loaded so far. 'Let's just hope that doesn't happen then.'

* * *

**And a little Nammy fluff at the end again. At first I just thought they **_**would **_**be cute together for no apparent reason other than I liked them both. But now I'm beginning to see more why they **_**should**_** be together! :3 What's one of the cool things about Noah is that he is sarcastic/witty towards EVERYONE, even persons that are obviously physically stronger than him. (for example to Eva in the last episode of Total Drama) This is something Sammy could learn from big time, since she kinda wants to please everyone.**

**Noah might seem to go out of character a bit. But he already changed from season 1 to 3 from Total Drama. He became more competitive and actually helpful to the team. (think of how he acted in the dodge ball episode in comparison to the London challenge or the one in Paris) Also him hanging around with Owen before this competition and the presence of Sammy are things that caused his slightly different behavior here.**

**Sorry, I just can go on and on when I begin typing about something I like. These are just author's notes though, so ignore it if you want! ;)  
**

**See you at the next chapter! ^^  
**


	10. Campfire: Ten seconds in the Bush

_**Ali6132: Samopher, Nizzy, Nawn and Notie all seem like fun couples! I've thought of doing Nawn in this story, but then I thought of Nammy. And when I found out there was no story for Nammy yet I just had to do it! ;) I can't wait to write the campfire scene! ^^ (what'll happen in this chapter!)**_

_**pizzawizz: Thanks for all the reviews and the follows! And I agree, Owen can be pretty adorable! (especially when he's with Noah) xD And yes! Noah has a heart! He can be pretty sweet if he wants to be! 3 I'm glad you like nammy! There will be many more moments between them! ;) **_

_**GeM216: Okay, that sounds way~ too coincidental.. ;) Made up the name Theodore right on the spot, normally I put more thought into it. xD I won't make them the complete opposite, so that would mean I'm safe! ;) Also I only do OOC ness since not all characters have a lot exposure in the show and people change overtime. It must feel natural to write! :) Yeah the pairing is now called Nammy! xD (not sure if it existed before though) Glad you like it! And I agree, Noah better not trust them, but he's smart so he'll probably do what's best. (I hope! xD) He's declined their offers at least for now! (I make up lots of the story as I go -except the main plot- so I'm also curious about what'll happen too! ^^)**_

_**mackotaco79: Thank you! :D**_

**Never answered that many reviews in one chapter! Thanks you guys, you don't know how much I appreciate the time you take to write these! :D It makes me happy to know that y'all like the story so far! It gives me an extra boost to continue writing!**

**I hope I won't mess up later...! xD**

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'You really don't trust any of them?' Theodore -the candle maker- asked.

'I think I already answered that question.' Noah looked up from the soup that was his dinner. He had to admit that it was much more edible than it had looked. Plus he had expected a lot worse from the man.

'I know, but there are nineteen of them, and you know them all. That makes me question if you are right, or if you're just horrible at making allies.'

'Maybe it's both.' Noah said dryly, not interested in continuing the conversation.

'It would be wise to make some friends, or at least allies though,' Theodore took a sip of his soup.' Otherwise you won't have any chance at winning.'

'Is that what you meant the other day when you said I wasn't ready to solve the mystery?'

'Huh,' the man thought for a second. 'Oh yeah, I did tell you that didn't I? Well no kid, that's a completely different matter. '

'I hate you.' Noah said with no specific expression. 'Can't you just tell me what you know?'

'I'll tell you when you're ready to hear it.' The candle maker laughed at Noah's irritated expression at that sentence. 'It's way easier to get under your skin than you think kid. You're too curious.'

'And you're like an invisible ghost trapped in a non existing mirror.'

The man arched his eyebrow at this comment, urging Noah to elaborate.

'Unfathomable.' Noah finished in his normal deadpan voice, not wanting to let his irritation shine trough anymore.

As a reaction the candle maker just shook his head as his lips seemed to form a little smile. 'I'm going help prepare for the campfire kid, I expect to see you there.' He stood up and took his coat.

'I will, not because you said so though. Don't think you can just order me around.'

'Then why are you going kid?' the man asked.

'It's purely strategic.'

The campfire started before it was fully dark so that the kids could enjoy it too for a while. Noah first didn't mean to come so soon, but then he remembered that he had nothing else to do. Plus he couldn't help but be a little curious if the kids were still playing the game he taught them.

It was still a bit chilly since it was only the beginning of spring, so Noah brought a jacket with him just to be sure he wouldn't catch a cold. He didn't even want to imagine how it would be if he got sick and Theodore had to take care of him. _Brrr... _Just the thought made him shiver.

The campfire was way bigger than Noah had expected. Around the fire there were multiple logs placed horizontality -at a safe distance- and already a few people had taken place at some of them. There was also a table close by with different kind of snacks and drinks to enjoy. Not all was from the middle ages, but that really wasn't something Noah would complain about. He was especially glad that the toilets were not medieval style. Tough there was a rule on the toilet door stating that nobody was allowed to talk about what they saw there to anyone. Probably to keep the medieval mood alive.. Not that that knowledge made the rule sound any less creepy.

Around the campfire there were a few other contestants like Bridgette, Dawn, Ella and Samey. Once Samey spotted Noah she waved shyly. Noah answered this with a wave of his own. He thought about joining them when suddenly he felt someone pulling his arm.

'What the..-' He turned around to see that the one pulling him was one of the little children he had played with. The spoiled girl to be exact.

'Please let go of my arm Lily.' Noah said with a sigh.

'Do you know some other games we could play mister Noah?' she asked while letting go of his arm.

'Not right now,' Noah said dryly. He didn't really care that much about playing with the kids. It's not like he loved kids at all. (he also didn't hate them of course, he was just indifferent about them) That he played with them before was just a.. exception.

Lily gave him a sad dog face that was actually pretty convincing. And if it wasn't bad enough the other kids joined in too.

'Please mister Noah!' The oldest kid called Nathaniel said. He was also the unofficial leader of the group of kids. 'You must know more games!'

Noah was still able to resist their faces at this moment, even though he had to admit it was getting harder. Once Timmy came stumbling towards him too it became impossibly hard.

'You said not now, so what about now?' Lilly asked way to enthusiastic. 'Already a minute has passed, so you must have an idea now right? Right?'

'Need help?' Bridgette asked Noah. She and Samey saw the commotion from afar and decided to check it out.

'Mister Noah doesn't wanna tell us other games,' one of the youngest kids said.

'But we know he knows more!' Nathaniel said with a big grin. 'He even said before that there were more games that Timmy could play along with!'

'Who's Timmy?' Bridgette asked. Once she saw that Timmy was the handicapped kid she immediately turned to Noah.

'Okay, okay. I think I do know another game.' Noah said, finally giving in. 'It's a bit like hide and seek but this version is called Ten seconds in the Bush. First we need a place to start where there are a few good hiding places nearby.'

The kids immediately were excited and Nathaniel pulled Noah to a good spot for the game that was close to the fire.

'You mind if we watch?' Bridgette asked, curious to see Noah handle the children up close.

'You could also join,' Noah said with a evil grin. It was partly because of Bridgette interfering that he couldn't refuse the children's offer, so no way that she was getting off easy.

'Yeah!' Lilly said happily. 'The nice lady is gonna play with us too!'

'Okay, I'll join.' Bridgette smiled, she loved kids. 'But not only me.. also this lovely lady!' She pulled Samey closer to the kids, who became even more ecstatic. It wasn't every day that grownups played along with their games!

Noah gave Samey a short apologizing smile, he only meant to drag Bridgette down with him. As a reply Samey shook her head ever so slightly to let him know that she didn't mind. This didn't go unnoticed by Bridgette, however she decided to not mention it for the moment.

Noah explained the game to the kids. Timmy would call out "Ten seconds in the Bush!" and at that moment all the kids had to touch him and run away to find a hiding place. When the ten seconds were over Timmy could open his eyes and search for the others. He could only take 3 steps from the starting point though. If he couldn't find anyone anymore he'd have to count again but then start at nine. This went so on and on until everyone was found. (since it was nearly impossible to hide in one second.) If someone would be able to hide in one second they'd be the ultimate winner of course.

The downside to this game was that Timmy could only be the searcher since he wasn't able to run fast enough. Timmy didn't seem to mind though and later on they even added a searcher to help Timmy. Noah and Samey played only with them for 4 rounds, and didn't get further than 3 seconds.

'This is enough for me,' Noah said while panting a bit, sports really weren't his forte. He did his best though since he didn't want to lose to a bunch of kids. What was the cause of him already being tired. 'I'm going to get something to drink.'

'I'll join too,' Samey said. She wasn't tired at all, since she was already used to using a lot of energy with cheerleading. She just really felt like having a drink..? .. Okay even she knew that was a lame excuse. She just wanted to hang around Noah to be honest. It was like she learned something new about him with every sentence he said or every small thing he did, it kinda made her curious about other sides of him that she might not know. Plus he was one of the only ones that actually remembered that Samey wasn't her real name, it was also her mistake of not correcting anyone anymore though.

Bridgette wanted to stop too, but Timmy had already started counting again so she decided to just leave the two lovebirds alone. She wasn't blind, she knew that they both felt more for each other than they even realized themselves.

'Already tired?' Samey said teasingly. Playing with the kids had really lifted her spirit and made her worry less about "little things". (as Noah would phrase it)

'I'm more about the brains,' Noah said while taking a sip of his drink.

'I know, but that's no excuse for your very VERY poor physique.' Samey giggled. 'I think that there isn't a contestant on Total Drama that has a worse condition than you.'

'You are very direct today,' Noah answered with a smile, not noticing that he too was acting happier. It was just something that enthusiastically playing with kids did with you. And even though Noah wasn't into sports, he could get quite a bit competitive.

'Ah well,' this made Samey blush a bit. 'You said I should act more like myself.'

'I'm glad I did,' Noah said while refilling his cup. 'And I'm glad you listened.'

'Samey,' Amy said. Noah hadn't even noticed that she had also joined the campfire, or "the celebration of life part 1". (part one since there were more campfires to come) 'Where have you been? Come with me!' Amy waited impatiently and was almost ready to drag Samey away again.

Samey seemed to hesitate a bit, but still gave in. 'Sure. I'll speak you later Noah.' At once she had turned more timid again. Almost like the presence of Amy already activated a magic spell on her. Or, a better way to phrase it, a curse.

Noah was left standing alone at the drinking bar. Not sure what to do now. He did bring a book with him, so he decided to take a rest and read by the campfire. He sought a nice place -far from the others- and starting reading. Soon minutes became quarters and the kids already went to bed before the sun was actually down. Bridgette took place again next to Ella and Dawn and were also joined by Gwen, Courtney, Sierra, Cody and Cameron. They seemed to be happily talking with each other, but even still Noah felt no need to join. He wouldn't fit in anyway.

That thought made him realize something. Noah looked around the campfire and studied the other contestants. He hadn't been lying when he said to Theodore that he didn't trust anybody. The only contestants he would actually call his friends were Owen and Izzy, and both weren't here. Cody was also close to a friend, but they hadn't talked much since Total Drama Island. (it was almost impossible to get past Sierra) Others that he got along with fine were surprisingly Tyler and Eva. Of course both of them weren't here either.

It was not like he didn't get along with Bridgette or some of the others like Ella, but he knew they didn't trust him completely. He would love to say that he trusted Samey, he really would. But as long as Amy had a tight grip on her like that.. Noah sighed.

Why did that bother him so much?

* * *

**I know why Noah, it's because you're in love~! 3**

**I wanted to add more to this campfire scene, a lot more. So I decided to just split it up in separate chapters so that I wouldn't get a chapter twice the size of what I normally have. (plus I won't have time to write further tomorrow and I just couldn't wait to upload this! xD)**

**And yes, Noah plays another game with the kids. Even though he is lazy, I can imagine him not wanting to lose to a bunch of kids. I mean, who would right? And backing out after only 3 rounds, yeah that's already pretty bad. xD All these games are some I used to play when I was younger. I didn't know if there was English version of this one, so I just translated the title of the game from Dutch. Noah probably could have thought up a way better one for Timmy, but he was under quite some pressure. Only someone with a heart of stone could resist that many puppy-eyed kids..**

**Sorry, I'm rambling.. xD **

**On another note it mentioned on the Total Drama wiki that Noah was also friends with Tyler and Eva, so that's why I added them here as well. ;)**

**I hope I'll be able to upload another chapter this week since I'll be in London next week. I've never been there before, and even though it's just a school trip I'm pretty exited! :) I'll be visiting high schools to see how the UK differs from the Netherlands when it comes to education... and yes, I find that pretty cool! ;)**


	11. Campfire: Taking heed

_Ali6132: There is a way to counter the curse! Sammy just doesn't know it yet! ;) I'm glad you liked that he played with the kids again! I was doubting if I should add it, but I couldn't imagine not bothering him after playing with him once! And yes they will appear more in the story, since they are all part of the mystery that will unfold! Netherlands is nice! The landscape is pretty flat, no mountains whatsoever, but it is nice and also quite peaceful here! :) We also have fun children games..~! ;)_

_GeM216: The thought of you smiling while reading it makes me smile too! xD It's a pretty cool game if you want to spice hide and seek up a little. ;) As far as I know apostrophes are meant to use when speaking. (or at least in the Netherlands) As for quotation marks.. I just noticed now that I use them a bit randomly. xD I use it when I type a name of something so someone knows it's not part of the sentence. Don't know if it's meant to be used there. Sometimes I also use it to express satire, sarcasm, irony or euphemism (like how Air quotes are used, this comes right from Wikipedia xD) But it's also when you quote something someone else says. When I want to show what someone is thinking I mostly put the text in italic. (I also use italic for sounds sometimes) I'm glad that you liked the chapter! Yeah it's mostly a bit OOC ness so far when Noah is near the children or Sammy. xP (but we've never seen him with either of them in the Total Drama series, so maybe he would actually act a bit like this! :P)_

_ElizabethLifeStone: Thanks! ^/^_

_pizzawizz: I don't think Noah can do much about it, he just tends to be unlucky. xD And I've never heard anyone say they liked Amy, it's just unthinkable. ;) Well I already live in Europe, so I'm just visiting another country. I've never been to France, sadly it wasn't on the way too so I didn't drop by. (I do want to go there sometime though! :D)_

_Guest: Here is the next update, served on a silver platter if you wish! ;D_

**Wow, these are some long answers, sorry people, but like I said in an earlier author's note, I tend to ramble on. xD**

**On another note. I mentioned in the last chapter's author's note that I would be visiting England/London. Well I did! What explains the lack of updates this week. :P It was really fun though! I've visited High Schools there and I've seen places like the Big Ben and the London Eye! I didn't get to visit 221 Baker Street though (Sherlock Holmes house), I'll just have to go back sometime for that! ;)**

**I think I've talked enough now, so here we go, the next chapter! *insert superhero theme here***

* * *

The evening continued on and for a while the others didn't seem to notice Noah's lack of participation. Noah didn't mind, he wasn't one that enjoyed long useless talks about things that didn't interest him one bit. Instead he liked to focus on the reason why he was here in the first place, the contest. He wasn't sure if the book he had would turn out to be useful, but he didn't have many other leads to go on just yet. Whoever set up this contest seemed to take his sweet time with the contestants. Noah had read in the contract that the time they would spend here could turn out to be quite long, and that they would be stuck here until the mystery was solved. So unless he would get some clues fast, there was no way of getting out of this place.

'So you noticed the disfigurement of the villagers too.' Scarlett commented when she saw the title of Noah's book. (which was about biology) Noah hadn't even seen her coming, and her sudden appearance made him slightly uncomfortable. 'Is that book doing you any good?'

'It's trying, but it can't give me more information than this.' Noah said sarcastically. 'Pages just don't magically change.'

'You are averting my question.'

'You are trying to get information out of me.'

'Why do you think I would need your information?'

'I know you are not one for simple chatter.' As an answer -almost as if to prove him wrong- Scarlett took a seat next to Noah. Noah decided to be at least a little civil to her and put away his book. He couldn't help but be a little curious to what Scarlett had to say.

'You know nothing about me.'

'I know enough. You're smart, and collective but also psycho and dangerous. Plus it's really probable that you're working with Alejandro. I doubt I could distrust you even more than I do now, and I extremely doubt if you can change my image of you.'

Scarlett laughed. 'Alejandro was right, you are observant. You also know how to formulate your words, not bad.'

'Alejandro said that? I thought that snake hated me.' Noah said while rolling his eyes. This was meant to make Scarlett think that he was sarcastic and almost to not interested in the subject. The truth was it did intrigue him a bit that Alejandro said something positive about him. Even though he should have known, since Alejandro voted him out of Total Drama World Tour because of Noah's knowledge of him and his plans.

'He doesn't hate you, it's more that he dislikes you.' Scarlett put a finger to her chin. 'He does respect your intellect though. I must say that I get where he is coming from. Apart from your endless sarcastic comments and horrible humor you're quite nice to talk too.'

'Original complisult,' Noah said. Using Alejandro's name for comment that was a compliment and insult combined. 'Don't expect one back though, I don't usually throw compliments around.'

'Except to Samey,' Scarlett said purely to test Noah's reaction. Sadly Noah noticed that too late. He flinched a bit at the name of Sammy, it almost made him look around to see if she was nearby. He held himself back though.

'You have no ground for such comment.' Noah said deadpan, trying to mask his little slip up.

'I see,' Scarlett said while making a mental note of her findings. 'On another note, I'd like to ask you some questions. Can you comply or would I be wasting my time?'

'I won't spoil that surprise for you.' Noah said. 'What do you want to ask me, something about the candle maker I live with, my declining of alliances with both Heather and Alejandro or my "involvement"' Noah made air quotes with his hands here. 'With the kids?'

'All those topics are of some interest to me, except for you declining the alliances. It's only logical that you don't trust them, since they have shown multiple times that they will not hesitate to stab several people in the back.'

'Then why did you join the alliance yourself if it's so logical to deny?'

'It has more upsides for me then for you, since the chance of me making other allies here is a great deal below yours. Plus I'm well prepared for backstabbing, I'm no naive fool. Even though they think they're using me, it's actually the other way around.'

'I think it's both ways.' Noah said. 'Your alliance is just a whirlpool of lies and distrust.'

'True, but I know you are well able to keep your head above water. So why not join too? You'd get access to much more information than you would be able to gather on your own.'

'Because I don't need more information, I have enough as it is. Plus, as you've probably noticed by now, I live with one of the most influential people in town. Being in an alliance would mean that I'd have to share information to get some, and I just won't do that. Since you obviously don't have the same access to information as me.'

'No need to pretend, I know the candle maker isn't of much use. You mustn't sprout words out carelessly. You never know who listens.'

'Thanks for the tip.' Noah said sarcastically.

It was then that Noah noticed that Samey had returned from whatever she was doing with Amy and was now sitting alone staring at the fire. Something seemed to be bothering her, and again Noah was curious to what it was.

'I'll be taking the exit to this conversation now. I still have some unfinished business with Samey.' Noah said while standing up. The last part about having business with Samey wasn't completely true, but he rather wanted to talk with her then Scarlett. Also him calling her "Samey" was completely intentional. He didn't want Scarlett to think even more of his so called bond with her. 'Thanks for the talk, it was ehh.. enlightening.'

'Noah,' Scarlett suddenly said in a much deeper and threatening voice. Of course she had noticed who Noah was looking at, so this seemed like the perfect moment to make sure that Noah was an available source for information. 'No secret escapes me, I can see right through lies and facades. I know about your strong bond with Samey. So if I were you I'd watch my steps, since I won't guarantee her safety if you stand in my way of winning.'

'That's quite an elaborate threat,' Noah said. Masking that he felt indeed a bit threatened since he knew what Scarlett was capable of. 'Why use Samey to get to me? I think you overestimate the so called "bond" I have with her. Wouldn't it be more useful to just directly threaten me?'

'That would seem logical in your eyes, but trust me. This will work out way better.'

Noah hid his uneasiness and just shrugged. 'Think what you want psycho, but don't underestimate me. I'm here to win.'

'Aren't we all?' Scarlett said with an evil grin. Of course she knew her thread had landed, she had eyes like an hawk. This knowledge didn't keep Noah from walking towards Samey though. He just wanted to talk to her, as a friend and maybe as even less. There was nothing wrong with that in his eyes. He was just really curious about what Amy wanted from her. Was Amy planning to drag her into an alliance with her and Heather?

Still Noah couldn't help but think about Scarlett's words. Why did she already think that much about his friendship with Sammy? They had met only today and when they talked it was mostly about her living as Amy's shadow. Hardly a friendly or nice topic. Sure he did like her, but giving all sorts of information away to keep her safe from whatever Scarlett was planning? That just seemed silly. The only one Noah had to care for was himself. This was a game, so Sammy wouldn't be in real danger anyway. And she had to learn to take care of herself too.

'Had a nice talk with Amy?' Noah asked as he took a seat next to Samey.

'I'll spare you the details, but I can say that it's been a long time since I've called a conversation with her nice.' Samey smiled, obviously she didn't want to think about it anymore. 'How was your talk with Scarlett?'

'Odd.' Noah said simply. 'Not sure what to think of it yet.'

'In what way?' Samey asked.

'Why so interested? Scared her craziness is contagious?'

'No, I just..' Samey blushed a bit. 'Well nothing really. Forget about it. Just don't trust her, she's good at building up fake personalities. Don't fall for it.'

'Don't worry, I won't.'

'No I wasn't worried!' Samey said quickly as she held out her hands defensively and a blush spread on her cheeks. She didn't really know why she said that actually. Was it because she knew that Noah could handle himself and wouldn't fall for Scarlett's tricks, or was it because she didn't want Noah to know that she cared?

'Okay..?' Noah said while arching one eyebrow. 'You don't have to take stuff so literal.'

'I..' Samey was about to say something dumb again but she held herself back. She took a deep breath and started her sentence anew. 'Can I ask something totally unrelated?'

'Sure.'

'Why did you join this competition?'

Noah hadn't expected this question, he actually had still been thinking about Scarlett's words this entire conversation. This question brought him back to reality though. 'Euhm, well..'

'Noah at a loss for words?' Samey smiled teasingly. 'I didn't think I would live to see this day.'

'Hey, you're the one who drops sudden questions on me.' Noah defended.

'It wasn't sudden, I even announced it.'

'Still I hadn't expected this, plus I was thinking about something else.'

'About what?' Samey asked, her curiosity peaked.

'Not important.' Noah sighed. 'Back to your question, it was for the prize money. Isn't that where everyone is here for?'

'True, but there could be another reason involved. And I doubt it really is that simple since you hesitated before answering.' Samey grinned, knowing she was right. 'What do you want to use the money for?'

'Myself, mostly.'

'And the rest?'

Noah sighed, it was actually pretty personal and he really didn't feel like sharing it. So he had to twist the conversation in a different direction. 'I didn't even accept the invitation myself, Owen's the main reason I participated. He sent the letter.'

'Really?' Samey giggled. 'So you two are still hanging out?'

'Yeah, he keeps visiting me.'

'Don't do that!' Samey said trying to be strict even though a smile still graced her face. 'Just admit you like his company. There is no need to be ashamed of having friends.'

'I'm not ashamed.' Noah clarified. 'I think I'm just not used to it.'

'That's not better,' Samey said, her expression turned more serious. 'But I guess I'm in the same boat. I've never been a social butterfly either.'

'Really?' This surprised Noah. 'But isn't social butterfly like a definition for cheerleaders?'

'For most, but Amy really got me to join and then sucked up all the attention and friends herself. I talk to the other cheerleaders and the sports team, but I never really got that close to them. I'm not that much into cheerleading at all actually. I don't like the spotlight that much.'

'I don't know why I didn't saw that coming.' Noah shook his head in disbelief. 'What do you like then? You must have some hobbies you do for yourself.'

'Well,' Samey thought for a bit. 'I do like reading stories. I luckily have my own room at home, so I tend to spend a lot of time there. Amy doesn't usually bother me that much at home, since she spends a lot of time with the other social butterflies.' Samey smiled at the reuse of this word. 'At one point I tried out online gaming so that I could make some friends that didn't know Amy, just me.'

This interested Noah, a lot. He far from expected this from her. 'What game?'

'Aika Online*.'

'That's a pretty good one I've heard, haven't played it myself though. What class were you?'

'Cleric. I didn't really play for the fighting at first, more for making friends. So healing seemed like the best choice. I do admit I got kinda too deep into the game at some point though. Why are you so interested? You play online games yourself?'

Noah nodded. 'Of course. Not to brag, but I'm the leader of the Underground Alliance. That's the most successful guild in Dragon Assassin. Also I'm the only one who knows how to get to the Secret twelfth Level.'

'I think that does fall under bragging.' Samey said teasingly. 'Even if it's true.'

'You don't believe me?' Noah asked in his own "playful/teasing" like way. (what didn't seem much different from his normal sarcastic behavior to be honest, he only smiled more and had a slightly different tone when speaking. Still for Noah, that was pretty unusual.)

'Nope,' Samey giggled. 'I'll only change my mind when you'll prove me wrong.'

'Then that's what I shall!' Noah pointed his finger at Samey as if to challenge her. 'I, Noah, leader of the Underground Alliance and master wizard challenge you, Sammy the non-social butterfly cleric, to play Dragon Assassin with me after we've completed our quest in this village so I can prove that I'm indeed as great as I claim to be.'

'I, Sammy, the great cleric and non-social butterfly accept your challenge Noah, leader of the Underground alliance and.. well the rest.' Samey giggled again. 'Sorry but your title is just too long, plus I don't even know for sure if it true or not.'

Noah laughed. He never expected he would to role play in front of Samey, and he even less expected her to go with it. They continued talking freely, happily and teasingly like this for more than fifteen minutes before they were interrupted. This time it wasn't Amy, it was Heather.

'Samey,' she said. 'Amy wants to speak with you in the inn. And Noah, I wanna speak with you.'

'That's rude.' Noah commented. He wasn't planning to go with her... well until Samey stood up.

'I'll look you up later again, okay Noah?'

This irritated Noah. Seriously, she had to go without any complaining again!? That was the second time this evening and the third time today that she had to leave because of Amy. It seemed to get more ridiculous every time.

'Do whatever you want, I don't care.' Noah said with obvious disinterest. Heather had to be blind not to notice it, but she didn't know the reasoning behind it. Was it because of Samey leaving or was it because of the presence of Heather that he acted indifferent? Samey didn't seem to be aware of it if it was just an act. She seemed pretty hurt, but left anyway.

'Well, I guess we can talk now.' Noah said. 'Just come straight to the point, I'm tired.'

Heather made sure she wouldn't slip up and act irritated at his comment. (how could only one sentence of Noah already be this annoying?) She had to play it smart. 'From your conversation with Samey or Scarlett?'

'Why does everyone seem to notice my every move lately.' Noah said. 'I know I'm amazing, but I didn't know it was this bad.'

'I get it, I'll come to the point. It's not like I want a long conversation with you either. I just want to know what Scarlett and you were talking about. Did she threaten you for information?'

'What gave you that idea?' Noah said, hiding his surprise of Heather's knowledge.

'I'm not blind, she obviously said something REALLY serious to you at the end. I just assumed it was a threat. That would at least be my second choice if someone were to decline an alliance.'

'So what, you're gonna threaten me too?'

'Nah, no need.' Heather held back an evil smirk. 'I don't need to result to that. I just want to give you a plain warning to watch out. You're getting a lot of attention on yourself, and I don't think that's desirable for you.'

'I'm really not trying to get attention.' Noah said deadpan.

'You should have thought about that before playing all happy and nice with the children, deciding to stay with probably the most suspicious person in town for suspicious reasons and hanging out with Samey like you two are some kind of couple.'

'We're not..-'

'-..I know,' Heather interrupted him. 'But a lot of people think otherwise. And a relationship is basically an alliance. Especially Amy isn't happy with it. People want to break you two apart before it goes too far. I'd stop before it gets to that if I were you. Things could get ugly otherwise.' Heather stood up to walk away when she remembered one final thing. 'Oh and I don't know if you are serious about denying that you like Samey -if it's as friends or more, I don't really care- but you need to seriously look at how you feel, and decide if you want that.'

'Thanks, for the surprisingly helpful advice.' Noah said half sarcastically. 'Even though you're probably just trying to push me in some direction for your own personal gain.'

'True, but that doesn't mean it's not also helpful for you.' Heather smirked. Noah couldn't help but respect Heather's manipulative ways a bit. She was amazingly good at it. Even though he knew she was manipulating him, he couldn't help but take heed to her words.

It was then that both of them noticed that the townspeople and other contestants were gathering at the other side of the campfire. There would probably be an announcement of some sort. Noah and Heather decided to join the commotion.

'Once again we celebrate being alive and well!' the barkeeper Richard shouted to the crowd that had gathered before him. 'Are you all enjoying yourselves?' This was answered with a great deal of people shouting: "Yes!" 'Well that's good! We need to show the new kids in town how real partying is done! Not only today, but with the next celebrations as well!' Again the crowd answered enthusiastically. The speech went on in the same way and Noah quickly lost interest. Without much thinking behind it he searched the crowd to see if he could find..

'Hey,' He suddenly heard a timid voice say as he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. Noah turned around to see Samey standing behind him. She stood there kinda awkwardly. Noah wasn't sure of the reason behind it, or she was just nervous to talk to him or something else was bothering her. 'I hope you're not mad that I left you earlier?'

'Why would I be?' Noah shrugged. 'It's not like you let your sister boss you around for the millionth time and left without actually wanting to for the second time this evening. Plus we aren't in any relationship of any kind, we just met today and earlier we were just talking. So again: why would I be mad?'

'I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.' Sammy said a little insecure. She rubbed her elbow with one hand, it was something she did a lot when she was uncomfortable.

'Well you can figure that out yourself.'

'I know the first part is, since I know how you think about my behavior towards Amy, but I don't understand the rest. I thought we were friends.'

'Well,' Noah hesitated. Heather's words were still ringing in his mind. He liked Samey, and he didn't want to hurt her. But if they kept on acting like this it would cause a lot of trouble for both him and her. Normally he wouldn't mind what other people say that much, but he didn't felt like getting in an ugly mess just because of Samey. At this point he wasn't sure what to do. So he decided to play it safe and create some distance between them. Even though he really didn't want to do this.

Samey noticed the time Noah took to answer, and she didn't like it. Why was he acting like this? It was all fine before she went to Amy, was that the only cause of this? He didn't seem that bothered before... Or was it..? 'Are you acting like this because of Heather?'

'No.'

Samey didn't buy it. 'What did Heather say to you?'

'We just talked, it was nothing special.'

'Don't lie to me.' Samey got tears in her eyes. 'Please don't.'

'Just stay away from me for now on okay?' Noah said in a sudden outburst of anger. That wasn't because he was mad at Samey, at the contrary, he felt extremely bad for her. It was his own feelings that he was confused of. Maybe Heather was right and he really did have to figure out how he felt. 'It's better for the both of us. We can't trust each other.'

'I trust you.' Samey said timid.

'...' That hit Noah deep, but it didn't keep him from finishing what he had started. 'Maybe, but how could I trust you? You're just another Amy.' He knew this comment would sting, and he was right, he could see the hurt all over Samey's face. If he didn't do this though there was no chance that she'd leave him alone. She would have to hate him.

'I thought that you..' Samey sniffed. 'I hoped that..' The tears came streaming out now. 'I guess you're right. Sorry for bothering you.' She ran away before she had even finished her last sentence leaving Noah standing alone, regretting his actions and maybe feeling even more hurt than Samey. It was only then that Noah had noticed all the people around him, they were staring. _Tssk! Of course, you idiot! _Noah thought to himself. He had been practically yelling and Samey ran away in tears. How could he think nobody would notice?

A few steps away the candle maker Theodore walked up to Richard telling him to lure the attention back to him. Once Richard started talking and the people turned away from the bewildered Noah to see what was going on Theodore made his way to the scrawny guy.

'Come with me kid,' he said while taking Noah's hand and pulling him away.

'Just leave me alone,' Noah answered, trying to pull his hand back with no success. 'I.. don't.. want.. to.. go.. with.. you!' He put as much strength into it as he could and even put his heals in the sand but it was no use. He was just no match for the candle maker.

What Noah didn't notice while he was dragged away by the candle maker was that Heather and Scarlett had watched the whole thing with smirks on their faces.

* * *

**Sorry, I write a new chapter and then I end it like this. . I do respect Heather's cleverness, but she can be a real b*tch sometimes! Messing up the fluffiness between Noah and Samey like this. It's just not fair. Also, she and Scarlett were both smiling, were they planning this all along? Were they planning this together? Who knows... :P**

***Aika Online is a online game I've played myself, it's pretty fun and not really hard. So I would imagine Samey trying this out because of her loneliness. I know that Samey isn't known to play games, but there is so much not known about her. Give me some free space! xD Plus I explained the reason behind it pretty well if I say so myself.**

**Just to clear some stuff up between me switching between the name Sammy and Samey:**

**-I use Sammy when: Noah thinks about her, or when he references to her when he thinks that she acts like herself. Also other people that might now her by this name will call her so.**

**-I use Samey when: Generally there is spoken of her (for now), when other people talk to her and sometimes Noah might reference to her like this when she's acting as a "spare Amy".**

**Next topic:**

**I have a new cover for the fanfic, again! :D This time I drew it all myself instead of just using copy/paste with a bunch of effects. If you hadn't noticed the cover changing and want to see them all**** search: "Fear of Scear all covers" in Deviantart. My account name is the same as here: Skyhitz.  
**

**I hope y'all like the new cover and chapter! This one is extra long, almost double of what it normally is! xD**


	12. Campfire: Learning from regret

_Ali6132: I know you despise Heahter yeah, so sorry for this! I just write like I'm watching something happen (like the characters choose what to do themselves), so it's not always what I want myself either. T.T Well since I did put in the story description that there is a Sammy x Noah pairing this won't be the end of course. But it wouldn't be fun if things just went right all the time! ;) Glad you like my long answers! I don't know if I could actually make them shorter, because I just want to reply on everything! :D Glad I'm one of your favorite authors! That's really nice to hear and makes me really happy! (especially since I've seen you commenting on a lot of other good Total Drama stories to that I read, it seems we kinda have the same taste in stories ;) And thanks for the long review! Just like you I like it when someone takes the time to write something and I'll do it right back! ;)_

_GeM216: I already loved the beginning of your review! I never imagined this chapter having this much of an impact! xD I did have fun during my trip, it was really nice and I've seen lot's of cool stuff! And yeah before I updated like 3 times a week, so a week pause seems very long then. I thought a lot about the story in England though and couldn't wait to write again! (You're welcome for the explanation! It can be pretty confusing since not everyone uses it the same way!) Yeah Noah sort of did, he just didn't have enough time to think it through. :( Also Samey kept skipping out when they were having a good time, that plus all the threats/warnings made him unsure if hanging out with Samey would be positive in the long run. Still he shouldn't have done it, he'll realize that soon enough! ;) And thanks for the LONG review! I like that! :D_

**I don't have much to say this time. Just that what happened at the end of the last chapter was officially (in my head) supposed to happen later. But since I write in a pretty impulsive way and Heather decided to jump in.. it happened sooner. This will also mean that the story will progress a bit faster, so yey! :D I'll catch up with Noah/Samey fluff later, I promise. First Noah needs to be prepared for what's coming though, and who better to do that than a mysterious candle maker?  
**

**Yes, no one, my thoughts exactly.**

**And just a heads up: This chapter is a bit on the short side.**

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Theodore dragged Noah inside -now their- house.

'Seriously,' Noah complained when Theodore almost pushed him on a chair near the fireplace. 'This wasn't necessary.'

The man just sighed as an answer and made some tea for him and Noah. It didn't take long and once he had served it he took a seat across from the boy.

Noah didn't say a word in the meantime. He just stared at the fireplace, remembering how Samey had looked when he told her that she was just like Amy. When he told her that he didn't rust her, that they weren't friends...

He grabbed his head with his hands and went through his hair. He was confused, so confused. He had never felt like this before, everything used to be logical. Even the whole affair he had experienced with a player from his Underground Alliance called Cinderhella243 hadn't give him this much stress.

'Do you even know what you're doing kid?' Theodore asked him.

It was like only now Noah remembered that the man had dragged him down here. He didn't want to show this much weakness in front of a total stranger so he tried to compose himself a bit.. it didn't work out. 'Of course I know.' Noah tried to laugh it off.

'Please don't lie.' These words went right through Noah, what was obviously the reason of Theodore saying it. 'Those are the same words that girl used, Samey was it?'

'What do you want?' Noah sighed heavily, letting go of his already useless facade he had tried to build up.

'I want you to figure out what the hell your doing.'

His strict tone shocked Noah. 'I said that I already knew that.'

As an answer Theodore shook his head. 'Okay, then tell me exactly what you did. And don't try to lie, since you're horrible at that in this state you're in.'

Noah grunted a bit, but he did comply. If he was honest he'd have to admit that he would like talking to someone about this. Someone who wasn't part of the game and who had a clear view of things. 'I played right into the hands of Heather, and possibly also Scarlett. I realize that now. I didn't know what I was doing.' Noah put his hands up in the air. 'Are you happy now? I admit it! I behaved like an idiot and I've pushed away the one person that.. The one person..' Noah had to stop himself from getting to emotional here. That frustrated him, he never had to do that. 'Ugh. Why is it getting this complicated when the real mystery hasn't even started yet? It's like the universe hates me.'

'I think it's the contrary actually.' The man answered to Noah's surprise. 'Don't think that something is unfixable just because it seems grim at the moment. This'll turn out okay as long as you do something with the knowledge you've now gained. And then I mean knowledge of and emotional and tactical level.'

'That sounds way to positive.' Noah laughed halfheartedly. 'That's not usually my thinking pattern.'

'Maybe that's something you have to learn. Optimistic thinking doesn't have to be unrealistic. Just go over the whole night again and tell me what you've learned from this experience and what of it you can use for tactical advantages.'

'I really don't feel like going over it again.' Noah's head hurt from all the drama. (ironically he only experienced that now when he wasn't in a Total Drama show)

As a reaction Theodore just arched his eyebrow, urging Noah to talk about it anyway and to stop nagging.

'Okay, sure.' Noah sighed and went over what happened again. 'I talked with Scarlett, and she confirmed that she was in an alliance with Alejandro, and possibly with others, since she referred to the alliance as "they".' Theodore nodded approvingly at this. 'And they all seem eager to use me, as an information source mostly. Also they don't like me making alliances with others, Samey in particular. Amy is surely involved in that, but I don't know exactly how yet..' Noah put his finger to his chin and thought about the matter. Analyzing the evening actually made it all way more clear and helped him, just like the candle maker had told him. 'Scarlett is also in a alliance with Heather, that's how she knew that my information source wasn't worth much! Heather was the only one who could have told her! Of course! Maybe that means the whole distance thing between Heather and Alejandro is just an act too! That would mean that Heather, Amy, Scarlett and Alejandro would be in this all together.'

Theodore laughed. 'You seem to have it all back together! That's right, don't let feelings guide you, focus on what you've learned. I really don't know what you're all talking about though, I really have to learn the names of those newcomers.'

'The information isn't of much use to you anyway.' Noah said waving away his words.

'Hey, I want **you** to be the one who solves the mystery. And no information is useless, never forget that. There is much to gain by just knowing things in general.'

'That's why you know everything about everyone in this town like some creepy stalker?'

'You catch on quick.' Theodore laughed again. 'You chose the right information source by going to Richard today, he almost knows as much as me.'

'I had too, you won't tell me anything. You just ask me questions.'

'And you want to say that isn't helpful?'

'In this case it was of use.' Noah admitted. 'But it won't help me in solving the mystery.'

'We'll see.' Theodore smiled mysteriously. 'But to get back to the matter of your fight with the girl Samey.'

Only hearing her name and the mention of their fight made Noah all down again. He had forgotten about her for a minute, but now he just felt guilty again. 'I don't know what to do about that. I don't know if it's smart to hang out with her again.' Noah sighed tiredly and rested his head on the table while he let his thoughts flutter through his head. Hanging out with Samey had been fun, way too fun to be honest. He had never expected them to be so much alike, and at the same time be miles apart from each other. Every time he thought of her, pictured her, he felt happy. Well, he used too anyway. Now the happiness turned into regret and sadness. 'It's confusing.'

'Why is it confusing?' Theodore asked like he was some kind of shrink. Noah was way too tired to argue about it this time though. He didn't care if he was some test subject to the man, he just wanted answers.

'Because I like hanging out with her, but it doesn't seem wise.' Noah said to the table. He didn't feel like looking up. 'We turn out to be very much alike, but at the same time miles apart. It's fun to be with her, and I have a strong urge to help her overcome her fear of standing up to her sister.'

'Why isn't that wise?'

'Because I seem to be the focus of all the dangerous players here. Heather, Scarlett, Amy and I'm pretty sure Alejandro too isn't happy with me hanging out with her. So if I continue doing it I'll just get into a lot of trouble, and she will too. I need to stay focused on the game, and trouble isn't what I want.'

'So that's your decision? Stay away from Samey and focus on the game?'

Noah looked up, that sounded way to definitive. He didn't like that. 'I guess it is.'

'That doesn't seem like it's true at all.' Theodore sighed. 'You really are blind to your feelings kid. Not that I'm such an expert at it, so I won't even try to tell you how you should handle them. But think about this, having Samey-'

'Sammy, please call her Sammy.' Noah interrupted. He kept calling Sammy Samey to teach her a lesson, but it just didn't feel right when others did it.

'-Okay.. Having **Sammy**,' Theodore emphasized the name. 'as an ally could be really useful too. The reason you didn't consider that though is because you think you won't be able to face the ones that threatened you.'

'I'm not scared of them. I just..' Noah could do it, he couldn't deny that he hadn't considered having Samey as an ally. Was this the reason for it though? He wasn't sure.

'I didn't say that. And you're more than able to protect yourself, when it's with words at least. I mean just look at you.' Theodore gestured to Noah. 'You're a scrimp, anyone with only a bit of physical power could walk over you anytime. And that's what you're scared of. You don't want people to realize or use that. And when Samey is involved you're not the only one you have to take care of anymore, so words won't be enough and you will have to share information to get both of you out of trouble. And that won't make you win this game.'

'If what you say is true,' It kinda was, but Noah really didn't feel like admitting it. 'Then I made the right choice by taking my distance from her.'

'No that's not true. There is another way in which this all could be solved. You don't consider change at all, probably because you're pretty pessimistic.'

'I'd call it realistic.'

'Not the point.' Theodore sighed. 'I just mean that you have to become stronger, and I can help you with that.'

'I'm sorry but I don't do physical, I'd like to focus on my mental condition instead.'

'Well from now on, you'll do both.' Theodore stood up. His decision was final and Noah already regretted even getting in touch with this man. The candle maker just had so much authority and ironically was physically so much stronger that Noah knew that denying would give him much more trouble than accepting Theodore's offer to help.

'I guess you will kick me out if I don't cooperate?'

'And above that make sure that nobody else will take you in either. So choose: live on the streets or allow me to help you get stronger.'

'I'd guess I'd have to be an idiot to choose the first option here.' Noah sighed. 'Just don't make it too hard, this isn't a training for me, it's just a game.'

'I can't promise that, and think about it like this: Getting you physical state up will not only help you now but also in the future. For now I'd suggest you take a rest kid, you'll be using it tomorrow.'

Noah sighed. 'I wish I could quit already.'

* * *

**Sorry, again a chapter that only includes Noah talking to Theodore. It's just that these things are necessary for character development. Also: Noah training to get stronger? Yes it will happen! I will ease your minds though, I won't turn Noah into a body builder of some sort! xD The idea makes me cringe already! No it's just to get his condition up a bit. He'll need to if he wants to survive this. (you know how I warned for character deaths in the synopsis? Yeah, almost me neither) Training will also improve his chances of being able to protect Sammy! Which means he can get to hang around with her again with not having to worry as much about Scarlett's threats! (that poor excuse will be gone! )  
**

**... Yeah I know this might seem a bit anti-feministic, but don't worry, the time will come when Sammy shows who's boss! :D **


	13. Getting stronger

_GeM216: I've been fighting the urge to call him Theo myself while writing the story! xD Yeah's Theo's personality doesn't seem to be set in stone, yet he does have his reasons for acting the way he does! ;) Who doesn't like smashing hehe! xD Nice that that little detail of him wanting Theo to call her Sammy had the same effect on you as it had on me while writing it! ^^ And yes there will be DEATH in this! xD The synopsis says possible deaths, but I wouldn't put it in there if there weren't any deaths at all. Guess the possible was just to add a bit of mystery feeling to it? I don't know really. xD (The funny thing is that I already read your updated bio before this review! Surprised? I hope so! xD Sometimes I look up what my followers/reviewers are doing. What stories they like and who they are, because I appreciate them (and I'm curious :P) and also because it can give me ideas for stories to read myself! I really like your bio! And I'm honored my story is in it! Reading that made me VERY happy! xD I wanna tweak my bio up to a bit, but I have no idea of what to put in it. :P ) Also: I read you like Total Danganronpa too! :D I love that fanfic! It one of the fanfics that inspired me to do this. You liking that explains why you are curious about the death part of my story haha. ;D_

_WinLik3aBosS: I appreciate your honesty a lot! I wasn't Nammy fan either before I started this story, it just seemed like a fun and original combination. Now I can see them getting together more and more. ^^ I totally agree that I made them too close too fast! It's just that it felt like a lot of time had passed because of all the chapters, but in the story it's actually just one day. ". If it wouldn't take way too long to change it all I would do it! For now I'll just go with it and try to make it evolve more gradually from now on. Glad you still like the story though! ^^ Thank you very much for giving your opinion by the way! I really can use this to improve my writing in general because I tend to move a bit to quickly when it comes to characters liking each other. So again: thanks! ;)_

_Ali6132: When it comes to Total drama I'm following: The Survivors, Foreverly, Total Danganronpa, Noah's Gambit and Sky's Quest. Funny enough my favorite story on this site isn't from Total drama hehe. That one is called: Return of The Great Cat and Mouse and is actually the fanfic that inspired me to write a fanfic myself. :) Glad you did like this chapter! I'm pretty unsure if people will like chapters like these because it's just Noah talking to an OC, so it's good to know I don't have to worry so much about that! :)_

_Knifez: Thx for the review! And I agree with that you said. I normally write in a first person view, and I really had to get used to switching to third person! So that could explain the strange mix! ;) I do think it's gets better in the next chapters, but I'd love to hear your view on those too if you've got the time. (your criticism is constructive and useful, I really appreciate that!)_

**I have 3 things I wanna say, I gave them titles so you can skip what doesn't interest you! ;)**

**1\. Another fanfic**

**As some of you who follow me as author might have noticed I also started another story called: Gathering of the Clouds. The only thing I wanna say about that one now is that you don't have to worry, writing Fear of Scear is my top priority! ;D I wrote the other one just because the idea was stuck in my head and I just had to get it out! xD**

**2\. Poll**

**I've put up a poll on my profile about things you would like to see more in this story. Your opinion counts so take a look at it if you want! :D Miss some options in there? Then plz pm me about it! ^^**

**3\. DEATH**

**Just to clarify for all: Yes. There will be death in this story. The build-up is just kinda long, so I'll give a hint. Remember what Ella said in chapter 6: Peep behind the curtain? To quote her: "** Oh and we were told that there will be a campfire, they have one every three days! It's a celebration of life!' **" Here is something to think about. Do they celebrate life in general. Or do they celebrate that THEY are alive? An important difference. If you think about it it is kinda odd, normally being alive is just well.. normal. Would the village have a past that makes them so happy to still be alive that they throw celebrations for it? And why one every three days? Isn't that way too much?**

**Would something bad happen if they stopped celebrating it?**

**Think about that hehehe... As Max would say: I'm EVIL! :D**

* * *

'Wake up kid.'

Noah groaned, he really wasn't one for getting up early. To say it simple: Lazy was his third name, after intelligent and Noah of course.

'I said wake up!' Before Noah could react he felt a boot push him of the bed. He hit his head on the hard floor.

'What was that good for!' Noah jumped up but immediately grabbed his head after that. 'Argh, that hurts!'

'It'll go away in no time, don't be a pussy.' Theodore said with a grin.

'Oh you're enjoying this?' Noah exclaimed angrily. 'You're a sadistic irritating..-' Noah didn't even get to finish his sentence because the candle maker had already left the room. Noah's first instinct was to go back to bed. The sun was barely up! It had to be around 7am?

But he decided that would be a bad idea, and he was already fully awake. When he had accepted the man's offer the night before Noah hadn't expected this to happen. He hadn't expected anything really since he had decided to not think about it. Only the idea of working out already made him tired.

He wanted to get dressed, but to his surprise his clothes where nowhere to be found. Noah sighed, this was the worst morning ever.

He made his way downstairs to find Theodore relaxing with a cup of coffee in front of the fireplace. Next to him stood a man Noah didn't knew. The man was tall, skinny and blonde. And seeing his clothes he was pretty vain. They were all way to neat and fitted perfectly.

'That's him.' Theodore said pointing to Noah.

The blond man nodded and started to walk towards Noah.

'Euh..' Noah uttered when the man began to measure him. 'What's going on here?'

'New rule,' Theodore said simply. 'All the newcomers will have to adapt their clothing to the other villagers. You can go check if you want.' Theodore took a sip of his coffee as if there was nothing strange about this ordeal.

'No I'm good,' Noah answered, feeling slightly awkward with the unknown man touching him everywhere. Sure, he still wore pants, but that didn't make it feel less strange.

'You really are scrawny.' The blonde man said.

'Hey!' Noah said offended. 'Who even are you?'

'Oh what rude of me.' The blond man stood up and made a subtle bow. 'My name is Colbert, I'm the.-'

'Tailor. You make the clothes, I get it.' Noah interfered. 'Don't you have finished sets lying around that I could take? I really don't need that much work put into just clothing.'

'Just clothing?' Colbert exclaimed shockingly. 'No everything I make is a master piece! It's especially made for the wearer. I don't dress pigs! No, my name is well known everywhere! I can't let a client of mine wear something sluggish!' Colbert measured some final parts like Noah's neck and pulses. The man scrabbled it all down on a notepad.

'I'll have it done before the evening falls, you can come pick it up by then.'

'Sure.' Noah answered. As soon as the tailor had left he turned around to Theodore. 'My clothes please, or do you want me to walk around like this all day?'

'Not such a bad idea actually.' Theodore smirked and threw a piece of clothing towards Noah. 'Just wear that today, it's an old shirt of mine.'

'So you were an giraffe even when you were younger,' Noah dryly commented as he put on the shirt. The shirt was simple black and had short sleeves. It was however way too long for Noah so he had to stuff it partly in his pants to not make it look like a dress. 'I feel like an idiot.'

'That shouldn't be a strange feeling for you. Didn't you say the same thing last evening?'

'I said I BEHAVED like an idiot, that's something completely different.' Noah pointed out.

'If that makes you feel better,' Theodore shrugged. 'Now get over here and have some breakfast.'

Noah took a seat across from Theodore. His breakfast existed of eggs, some bread and milk, nothing fancy. 'Do I dare to ask what you've planned for me today?'

'I don't know kid, do you?'

'I can't believe that I thought you were helpful yesterday.' Noah groaned.

'I still am,' the man smirked. 'You just don't know it yet. C'mon eat up, then the real fun can begin.'

Not long after that they stood outside. The morning air was chilly, especially for Noah who was wearing nothing more than a shirt. 'It's no summer!' he said to Theodore. 'Don't you have a spare coat?'

'Show me that you can earn one,' the man pointed towards the gate. 'The only task I'll give you today is to walk around the village.'

'Is that the best you could come up with?' Noah said with a grin.

'You're right, it's not good enough. Let's make it 2 rounds.'

'Oh you can count.' Noah said unimpressed.

'I can count even higher. Let's skip 3 and go to 4 rounds shall we?'

'Okay, okay,' Noah groaned. 'I get it.'

'Good. Take as much time as you need, but I wouldn't take too long if I were you. Not if you want a coat.'

'So that's my motive to go on with this? A coat?'

'Also, you won't be allowed inside the village if you haven't completed your rounds, I've noted the guards by the gates of this so don't try to skip out.'

~ 

'_The birds are chirping the sun is shining bright,_

_Everybody get's happier when they see that light!_

_So stand up and enjoy the day, and you'll forget your dismay._

_You know that I'm right, so just forget about last night!' _

'Sorry Ella,' Samey muttered. 'I really don't feel like it.' She turned around in bed. 'I feel sick to my stomach.'

'But I really think that the sunlight will do you some good! Or should I sing another song to get your spirits up!'

'No please no!' Samey said. 'I've already heard two of them and it's not helping.'

'So even a song can't help you?' Ella's eyes teared up a bit. 'What else can I do to make you feel better? I can't leave like this..'

Now Samey felt even worse. Her bad feelings were getting Ella down too. She was being a burden, as usual. She didn't want that. 'Okay,' Samey put up a fake smile. 'Let's pick those leaves Margaret wanted shall we?'

This made Ella all happy again. 'Yes that's a wonderful idea!'

Samey put some clothes on and they went outside. It had to be like 9am at this point, she wasn't sure though because she didn't trust the clocks they had around here. Using candles as clocks? Was that reliable?

'Margaret said we could find these outside the village gate.' Ella said pointing to some pictures of a plant in the book she was carrying. 'That shouldn't be a long walk, and we might even get so see some woodland creatures.'

'Sure, that sounds cool.' Again Samey gave Ella a fake smile. Ella seemed not to question it at all. She probably assumed that everyone was able to get their spirits up as fast as her.

'Hey Jo!' Ella suddenly yelled as the tomboy walked by. Jo was wearing the same uniform as the other guards, overall brown with black. Well, the ranger guards at least. There was also another kind of guard that was more heavily armored, probably a choice they could make themselves.

'Hey cheerleader two and princess,' Jo greeted them.

'That outfit looks great on you Jo!' Ella said.

'Thanks, it feels good too. It's also one of the rules.'

'Of being a guard?' Ella asked.

'No for us all. Haven't you guys read the new rule they put up? We have to dress like the other villagers. I was warned to already start today, since the rule goes in tomorrow morning. It's nice to get already used to it.'

'Thanks for telling us.' Ella said. 'Let's go ask Margaret once we get back Samey!'

'Sure,' Samey said timidly.

'Still down about what happened yesterday?' Jo asked. 'Why do you let that squarebrain get to you?'

'Squarebrain?' Ella asked.

Jo rolled her eyes. 'Noah.' Jo turned back to Samey. 'But anyway, don't listen to what he says. I've heard he is and idiot who doesn't care about anyone besides himself.'

'I guess you're right. Maybe I misjudged him.'

'Precisely!' Jo took Samey's shoulders and set her up straight. 'Stand up for yourself! You'll never win if you stay weak.'

'Thanks Jo,' Samey really appreciated Jo trying to cheer her up. 'You're a lot nicer than you pretend to be.'

Jo shrugged. 'I just don't want everyone, including you, to think girls are weak you know? We gotta show some strength!'

'Okay, I'll try.'

Jo nodded approvingly. 'That's better. Where are you guys going?'

'We're going to pick some leaves outside the village!' Ella said way to happy.

'Maybe you'll walk into squarebrain then.' Jo laughed. 'The kid has been running around the village all morning and still has only completed one round.'

'Why does he do that?' Ella questioned.

'Apparently that dark tall guy he's living with made him do it. The man even instructed the guards by the gates to not let him in until he has completed his rounds. He had to do four I believe.' Again Jo laughed. 'I don't think he's gonna make it, I've never seen someone with such a bad condition!'

'Ella, I don't think I..-' Samey started, but Jo cut her off.

'Don't chicken out on your assignment because of the slight chance that you'll run into him. I think it would actually be good if you do run into him! You can tell him the truth and beat him up for hurting you!'

'Ehh,' Samey stuttered. 'I don't think I'll do that..'

'Your choice.' Jo shrugged. 'Anyway I gotta bail, I have some tests to do before I'm a real guard. See you later and good luck cheerleader two!'

~ 

Noah almost fell down from fatigue. He wasn't build for this! He had only completed two rounds in four hours! Well, that was according to the guards. He had no way to measure time himself. And the guards didn't seem very reliable since they were mostly busy laughing at his pathetic attempt of running. At some point even that tomboyish contestant Jo had joined them to make fun of him. She even came up with the name "squarebrain". Very unoriginal in Noah's opinion, what he also let Jo know of course. Still his remarks didn't quite land as well when he was breathing like a horse while saying them. He had tried numerous times to sneak into the village but it was just impossible to get past the guards.

'At least I'm not cold anymore.' he murmured as he tried to take up the pace again. He had to pause again after like a quarter though, he just couldn't keep it up. The first two rounds went relatively fast because then he had more energy. Now he was so hungry that he felt like he could even eat a tree if he wouldn't come across something better.

Eventually it took him another three hours to finished the third round. An hour longer than the last one. His condition was just that bad.

'Can I go in now?' Noah pleaded to the guards.

'Can he go in?' One of the guards asked the other.

'No way,' the other answered. 'Haven't you been paying attention this is only his third round, he still has one to go.'

'Are you kidding me!' Noah said. 'Why are you even counting? What do you care!'

'We won't go in to Theodore's orders. So just stop trying and finish your round.'

'I'll finish you.' Noah mumbled as he walked away. Luckily for him the guards hadn't heard that.

Noah was just about to start the next round as he noticed two figures walking towards the village gate. It were Ella and.. Samey. He could immediately see when Samey noticed him too. Her eyes fixated on him a while, only to look away right after. She whispered something in Ella's ear and ran away, right past Noah, without even giving him a second glance.

'Hey Noah,' Ella said, not sure how to act.

'Hey.. Ella.' Noah answered feeling a bit awkward. 'How is she doing?'

'She is.. improving.' Ella tried to find the right words. 'Until just now at least.'

'Oh.' Noah said feeling a bit guilty.

'Don't worry though.' Ella said quickly when she saw Noah's sad expression. 'She'll be fine, I'll make sure of that! She just needs some time. She was pretty hurt you know. What did you say to her?'

'Something I shouldn't have said.' Noah said. 'I lied to her.'

'That's not good.' Ella put her hand to her lips. 'You shouldn't lie.'

'Can you tell her for me? That I lied?'

'Shouldn't you tell it yourself?'

'I think it's best that we don't hang out for a while, that doesn't mean I don't want her to know I'm sorry though.'

'I don't really get it.' Ella said honestly. 'But okay, I'll tell her for you!'

'Thanks.' Noah answered with a faint smile. 'I'll go finish my last round now.'

'Good luck!' Ella said all happy again, probably because she knew the matter would be resolved quickly now.

It took another three hours for Noah to finish his last round, leaving him with a total of 10 hours for the whole exercise. Even though he didn't push himself that hard by taking many, many breaks. His legs still burned and it felt like nothing was left of his feet.

Since it was already evening he decided that it was best to first pick up the clothes the tailor had made for him. This way the candle maker couldn't make him walk again when he got home. The tailor's house was close to the bakery and pottery, the places where Sky and Dave lived. Sure enough Noah ran into Sky who was just sweeping in front of the bakery.

'Wow, you look awful!' she exclaimed.

'Thanks,' Noah said sarcastically.

'I've heard about your training, it sounds rough.'

'You have no idea.'

'I do actually.' Sky smiled. 'I'm an athlete remember? I've been through those kinds of training. And I can promise you that it will get easier. Every muscle in your body will feel sore tomorrow but don't let that get you down, just keep training!'

'That sounds anything but easier.'

'It might seem so yes, I guess I could have worded that better. Just don't give up Noah!'

'I don't really have that luxury.' Noah sighed as he entered the Tailor's house.

'Ahh! The scrawny kid!' The tailor exclaimed. 'Your clothes are ready to be fitted!'

'I can't just take them?' Noah asked.

'No, no. no!' The tailor said while walking up to Noah. 'I have to check if they fit and make adjustments if necessary!' Once he stood close to him he pulled up his nose. 'Oh you reek! I can't work like this.' The man gestured Noah to follow him to a back room. 'Here, take a bath first. I'll lay the new clothes here so you can put them on right away.'

Noah just sighed, feeling too tired to be insulted. He did as the tailor said and bathed before trying on the new clothes. The bath actually felt really nice, and Noah was sure to take his time. He didn't feel like caring about how the tailor would feel about that. When he was nice and clean he tried out the clothes that the tailor had made for him. He had to say that they fitted him perfectly. The color pattern looked quite like what he used to wear only darker and without any white. He had gotten different pieces to wear and even a long dark coat that looked way to familiar to the one Theodore had. Actually, now that he thought about it.. All the clothing reminded him of the candle maker. It was like Theodore was trying to make him into a look alike of him.

_Brrr.._ That thought scared him like nothing else could.

* * *

**One of the longest chapters yet! :D A few other characters made appearances here, just to let you know they are still here. ;) You know that it's way too fun to describe Noah when he's complaining or unhappy? I get now why the writers of Total Drama constantly let bad things happen to him when he sleeps, it's just way to funny. xD**


	14. Sharing information

_pizzawizz: Yeah I almost used that alternative rhyming word of witches for Heather and Scarlett too, they deserve it! xD Well Sammy and Ella are kind of friends already, and Dawn lives just next door! ;)_

_Ali6132: That's a great list! Yeah Noah is one of the unluckiest characters in Total Drama! I also love that line of his "Oh, life. Why do you hate me so?" 3 It's also one of the reasons I like "I see London" so much, because Noah is in it a lot! :D Yeah since it's still not clear what Theodore wants with him it's especially creepy. ." Yeah I do think Jo could be like that. :) Yeah I've read the newest chapter of Noah's Gambit! It was really.. odd? It seemed like they ended up in some fantasy/dream world. I did think it was really cool though. I like the idea of Noah and Gwen trying to get out together. I did find that one scene with Noah pretty OOC though with the robot Katie and Sadie thing. But that doesn't bother me so much as long as it helps the story and he was kinda cool. :)_

_GeM216: My sis was in the same room when I wrote this chapter and I asked her what name Jo would think up for Noah, and this was her answer! I could actually see Jo calling him that! xP I'm not sure what you mean with a vigorous deed of Noah.. If you elaborated the question a bit I'm sure I could answer it! ^^ Yeah well, when someone's bio is too long I skip it too, yours is of a nice size though in my opinion. :) If you've never written an angry character it means you do write sometimes? What kind of stories? (since I see no fanfics on your profile) I wanted to play the Danganronpa game when I read that fanfic, but I couldn't download it right. So I watched the anime instead. Now I did successfully download it, but the story is already kinda ruined because I know all the deaths already. I still play it though, it's still fun! :) Thanks for checking out my other story too! ^/^_

_LinkBetweenWorlds: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! :D_

**A new chapter! Nothing else to say here really this time. If any of you have a random or story related question for me, don't hold back and leave a PM or review! :D**

* * *

The next day Theodore had ordered Noah to run around the town just once, but it had to be in an hour and three quarters. If he didn't complete it within that time he would have to do another round. And again the guards wouldn't let him in otherwise. Noah's body hurt all over from the day before, but Theodore didn't show him any mercy for it.

So here Noah was, almost having completed his round while still being in time. He was so exhausted that he didn't get how he was able to keep on running. His body moved on auto mode while his mind wandered away to think about other things. Noah had decided not to say anything about the similarities between his clothes and those of Theodore... yet. He had decided it would be more strategic to wait. Theodore knew he was curious, and maybe he was trying to use that on him again. And if there was one thing Noah didn't like it was playing in the hand of others. Ugh, it was so annoying to live with that guy, he was impossible to read. His behavior seemed to change every time he spoke to him. Sometimes he was merciless while other times he pretended to know exactly how Noah felt. The next days and probably even weeks would become hard, since Noah already felt like leaving.

Still.. Nobody seemed to know as much about this town as Theodore, and Noah -really wanting to win this time- knew that if he moved to another place Theodore wouldn't help him anymore, not even in the slightest. And that was something he could better not risk at this point. So he pretended to go along with all the candle maker said until he knew he could risk going against him without giving up a incredible advantage towards the other competitors.

The irritating this about that though was that Noah knew that Theodore knew all of this too. So he would probably keep him guessing for answers so that Noah wouldn't leave. Noah still hadn't any idea why though. The man seemed -and even said- to want Noah to be the one that solved the mystery. He hadn't ask for a share of the prize money though, so was that coming later or was there another motive? If so than what motive could he possibly have?

Noah reached the guards who nodded in approval that Noah could enter the village. Without giving much attention to his environment Noah made his way back to candle makers house and let himself fall on his bed.

'Already tired?' Theodore asked. He had followed Noah up the stairs to his room. 'Your condition is exceptionally bad, you must get laughed at a lot.'

'Insulting me? Phew, never expected that from you.' Noah said sarcastically while not moving in the slightest since his muscles just didn't seem to take it anymore.

The candle maker sighed. 'I'll give you ten minutes, after that I want you to pick up something at the Chirurgeon's house.'

'I'm not your errand-boy.' Noah complained.

'It's not for me, it's for you. It'll soften the pain you feel in your muscles. They already prepared it for you so you only need to pick it up.'

'I still not want to.'

Theodore shrugged. 'Your loss, it would give you a great opportunity to ask the surgeon about what's been bothering you. He'll be more helpful than a biology book I'm sure.' The man left without saying another word to Noah, but he had a big smirk on his face.

Or anyway, that's what Noah imagined he had. The man knew precisely what to say to convince Noah to listen to him. It was irritating to know that if Noah _didn't_ listen to the man and went his own way he would obviously be making the less strategic choice. Why did that man have to think of everything?

Noah did take his full ten minutes however before finding his way to the Chirurgeon. He knew that Samey was staying in this one or the house of the gardener next to it. The latter choice probably was it though, since he had seen her picking herbs with Ella. This led him to believe that the ones living here would be Bridgette and Dawn.

'I knew you were coming,' Dawn greeted Noah once he stepped inside. Apparently they were just having breakfast. What reminded Noah of the fact that he had been forced to train absurdly early again.

'Sure you did.' Noah rolled his eyes.

'You don't believe me?'Dawn asked.

'No, it's just pretty obvious you knew. Since I've come to pick up something that was already prepared for me. You say it as if you sensed it.'

'Maybe I did.'

'And maybe you didn't. Anyways, where is the package?'

'Sorry but I still have to make it,' an old man said that was seated next to Bridgette, probably the chirurgeon. 'I didn't expect you to come so early.'

'Don't worry I'll wait.' Noah said, actually happy that he could just sit and do nothing for a moment.

Dawn walked away with the chirurgeon to make the potion, leaving Bridgette with Noah.

'Did you know the kids were looking for you again yesterday,' Bridgette said.

'I actually didn't, I was too busy walked around in pointless circles around the village.' Noah demonstrated this with his finger. 'You should be happy that your host isn't as sadistic as mine.'

'I am, though I can't believe Theodore is that bad. He did pay for a potion for you to feel better.'

'It's probably in his own advantage in some way, believe me.'

'But you don't know for sure?'

'He's impossible to read.'

'Ahh..' Bridgette answered. It stayed quiet for a while, not because they had nothing to say really. Just that they didn't know what would be wise to bring up.

'Is solving the mystery coming along for you?' Noah asked after a while.

'Haven't focused much on that to be honest.' This made Noah raise an eyebrow in surprise what caused Bridgette to laugh. 'You may think that I'm insane for even saying this but I like it here. Hansel has thought me a lot, and it's really fun. I learn way more practical and useful things here than I ever did in biology class.'

'You don't miss sucking face with your bf?'

The reminder of how she used to act with him made Bridgette blush a bit. 'Believe it or not but it's not that bad anymore. Our relation is actually more.. mature now. I even got Geoff to study, so he's busy with that now anyways. I decided I would win for the both of us, and he trusted me.'

'Even after your Alejandro incident?'

'Yes, we're past that. Even though I must admit I still not like being with Alejandro here. Not because of our..' Bridgette looked away awkwardly. 'You know.. But because I just know he's planning something again. He doesn't seem to be working with Heather now though, they are way to distant.'

'I wouldn't be so sure of that.' Noah mumbled. What he would reveal now was leverage for him, but he knew that keeping it to himself wouldn't do the situation good for the time being. Telling Bridgette would on the other hand make Heather and Alejandro's influence weaker. 'Are you able to keep a secret?'

This made Bridgette a bit suspicious. 'Sure, as long as it's not hurting anybody.'

'Good enough.' Noah sighed. 'I'm sure you know of what happened between me and Sammy at the campfire two days ago.'

Bridgette nodded. 'Everybody does.'

'Great,' Noah sighed again. 'Well I don't like admitting this, but Heather and Scarlett tried to set me up for that, and they actually succeeded in doing so. Both talked to me at the campfire convincing me that hanging around with Sammy would turn out to get me into a lot of trouble. Not knowing what to do I decided that keeping my distance would be the best option. It was only later that I figured out that I was playing straight into their hands by doing so.'

'That explains quite a bit actually, I already thought it was odd how you suddenly burst out to Samey like that.' Bridgette said. 'But how did you figure it out?'

'It was actually really obvious, I just didn't realize it because I was worrying about feelings and stuff instead of facts at the time,' Noah shook his head at the thought. 'What was also their plan I presume. The thing that confirmed my suspicions is when Scarlett referred to her alliance with Alejandro in plural, meaning there were others involved than just them. She also mentioned that I had to watch my words. This regarding something I said in the inn what only Heather or Amy could have heard. Since I assume that those two are also working together it must mean that they passed on information to Scarlett what they only would do if they had an agreement of sort. Also them both talking to me about the same thing at the same night is already way to coincidental.'

'You've really thought this through.' Bridgette said amazed. 'But why are you telling me this?'

'Because I don't want others to play in their hands too, that would give them too much of an advantage.' Noah answered simply. He didn't mention that it was also because he didn't see Bridgette as a thread in the competition and that it would make her trust him, what he could use in his advantage later.

'So Alejandro, Scarlett, Heather and Amy are in an alliance together since day one? Phew that's soon! I guess I need to step up my game too.' Bridgette nodded as she seemed to convince herself of that. 'I guess I'll tell you something too in return of this information. Since you've made me realize something that also applies to you.'

This surprised Noah since he hadn't expected to get some information back right away. He had been planning on using his "kindness" towards her later on in the game. 'You got my attention.' He said.

'Have you talked to Cody recently?' Noah shook his head slightly as response. 'Okay, well apparently Alejandro has been stirring Sierra up against him, leaving him no time to focus on the game at all. And now with your information I thought.. maybe it's all connected in some way.'

'They are trying to eliminate any possible alliance before they have even formed!' Noah concluded. 'Without Sierra obsessing as much over Cody they would be able to work with Cameron, what would result in not a bad team at all considering their combined mental strength. If Sierra is only focused on Cody instead of the game such an alliance would never work.'

'And you hanging out with Samey could cause Amy to lose her grip on her sister, so I guess that's why they took action against you. To avoid that you start an alliance and to keep Samey close to their alliance.'

Noah smiled. 'I must say I underestimated you.'

'And I guess I thought too badly of you,' Bridgette smiled. 'I seemed we both learned quite a lot today and it's not even nine o'clock. I am wondering though, now that you know why they drove you and Samey apart so soon, do you want to get back in touch with her?'

Noah sighed. 'Not yet I first want to make sure that I'll be able to handle anything Alejandro's alliance could throw at me. Scarlett already said she planned on using Sammy to blackmail me basically. It would be hard to stand up against that.'

'I got a question, why are you calling Samey Sammy?'

'It's her real name, Samey is just something Amy made up.' _Seriously why did nobody notice that?_ Noah asked himself in wonder. It was like nobody even watched Pakitew Island or just forgot that whole part existed.

'Really? That's cute.' Bridgette said with a big grin.

'That her name is Sammy or that Amy convinced everyone that she's called otherwise?'

'No, I didn't mean any that.' Bridgette waved with her hand as if to erase her previous comment. 'It's just funny that you are the one that calls her by her real name. I never expected you to be the kind of person that cares so much about a name.'

'I just keep to the facts.' Noah shrugged. 'Nothing more to it than that.'

'If you say so,' Bridgette answered.

It was at that moment that Dawn came walking back with the chirurgeon, who was apparently called Hansel. 'I knew you were coming.' Noah said with a subtle grin.

'Sure you did,' Dawn answered with a slight smile of her own. She handed Noah the potion they had just made. 'Just take a sip of it, it's enough to make it work and this way you can use it multiple times.'

'Thanks,' Noah looked at the potion carefully. 'What's in it exactly?'

'You don't trust it?' Dawn asked.

'Well do you blame me? Seeing the state of your workplace and all. The middle ages weren't really known for their good health care.'

'Just try it out.' The chirurgeon said. 'It sure won't kill you and this way you can experience how well our health care really is.'

Noah doubted the option. He obviously still didn't trust it, but on the other hand he did want it to work. Since he really didn't want to feel this broken down all day, it was exhausting.

'I guess I'll just do that then.' Quickly -so he wouldn't change his mind- Noah took a sip of the potion. It worked way quicker than he had imagined. He already felt the effect spreading through his body, even if it was only slightly. His muscles seemed to relax and heal way faster now. 'It does seem to work,' Noah said with surprise. 'I still don't get how that's possible though.'

'The nice part is that you don't have to, that part is our job.' The chirurgeon smiled and offered his hand to Noah. 'We haven't been formerly introduced yet I believe. I'm Hansel. I take care of the ill and I'm a barber at the side.' He winked when he said that, making Noah slightly uncomfortable.

'I'm Noah,' Noah said while shaking the man's hand. Hansel had a surprisingly firm grip considering the old age of the man. His hair was already gray and really lacking. He wore an apron with a belt over it showing multiple tools he probably used for operating and what not. Noah estimated the man to be at least 60.

'Well Noah,' Hansel smiled. 'I'm glad to make your acquaintance.'

Noah only nodded as response. He doubted if he would ask the man what Theodore had suggested him to do right away. This since Dawn and Bridgette were also in the room with him. Telling Bridgette to watch out for Alejandro his alliance was one thing, but letting her hear what possible clues he had found?

'Can I ask you a question?' Noah decided to ask it anyway. He didn't know when he would get a chance with the chirurgeon alone without it seeming suspicious. Also there was a big chance that Bridgette and Dawn would have figured this out already or do so in the near future.

'Sure.'

'What's with all the casualties in this village? I noticed the kids had quite some scars even though they don't seem to play that rough at all. Also I saw multiple villagers who had scars or a few times even a missing limb. Plus all the free rooms here are suspicious to say at least.'

'You really are observant.' Hansel tried to keep his composure, but for some reason that seemed to become harder for him. 'Why do you come to me with this question?'

Something about the way the chirurgeon spoke made Noah realize something. He seemed to be informed of Noah already, since he said he "really was observant". If Noah had to guess it was Theodore that had talked about him.

'Well I first tried to look up how the kids could have gotten scars like that, and especially what could be wrong with Timmy's leg. It was not very fruitful though so asking the one who takes care of all the ill seemed to be the logical next step.'

'What about your host Theodore?'

'I don't like asking him things.'

'Okay I guess that's fair.' The man smiled awkwardly. 'It's not something I like to talk about, but I guess you have the right to know since you live here now. I want to warn you, and also Dawn and Bridgette, to not talk about this to others though. I'm not the only one who tried to block that incident out of my mind.'

The three contestants nodded, this seemed to make the chirurgeon at ease a bit. 'There were beasts at loose here, werewolves to be exact. Pretending to be humans at day but trying to kill us at night. It took many days, and with that many lives, before we got rid of the plague.'

Noah couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Werewolves? Seriously? Was this going to be a bad horror movie rip off? Normally he would obviously have cast the thought of werewolves aside right away. This was a contest however, not the real world. So it was possible that the mystery involved "magical beings", no matter how silly that seemed. 'Just to be sure, there aren't any unicorns frolicking around in the forest that I should know about?'

'Noah!' Bridgette said, seeing how much it had took from Hansel to tell them about the incident.

'Thank you Bridgette, but it's fine. I know it's hard to believe.'

'When did this happen?' Dawn asked.

'A month before you guys arrived. It's also then that we began the celebrations of live.'

'Well, thanks for telling me.' Noah said standing up. The potion had did it work fast, Noah could barely feel pain anymore that had been bugging him this morning. 'Can I ask you to not tell anyone else who asks about it though?'

'I wasn't planning on it.' Hansel answered with a grim smile. He was probably pushing the memories back to his mind already.

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**It seems to get a bit supernatural! ; ) Still it could also all be made up and the scars could have been painted on, since it's all a contest after all. Not that werewolves would be unthinkable in the Total Drama universe, just think of Dakotazoid hehe. :P**

**Also, Bridgette and Noah sharing information! And also me sharing more details of the story with you! Hope you all liked it! :)**


	15. A sarcastic morning

**I'm glad ya'll like the werewolf addition! :3**

_Guest: Here it is! A new update! :D_

_Linkonpark100: Yes, a really dark secret hehe. Hopefully Noah can figure it all out before it's too late and the real danger arrives! _

_WinLik3aBosS: Thanks! Werewolves are quite dangerous indeed. It seems to be peaceful in the village for now, but of course -since this is a story after all- that won't last. I like your theory of one of the villagers already being a werewolf or contestants even turning into ones! We'll see how much of that is true in the upcoming chapters! (I won't spoil anything yet! ;)_

_KovatePrivalski97: I'm glad you like it! It's especially fun to hear since you're writing a Noah centered story yourself! ;) I have to admit that I first wasn't sure either if Noah and Sammy would work, it turned out way better than expected though! I could also see Noah with Scarlett actually and because of your story also with Nirvana of course! :P Because of Noah's Gambit I'm started to like the idea of Noah and Gwen too, probably because they both are kinda sarcastic and don't care much about what others think. It's no bother at all, the PM is -as you know- already sent. I just like to answer your review here also since it's what I always do with reviews! ^^ Thanks again! I'll try to keep this story regularly updated. (the goal for now is at least once or twice a week)_

_pizzawizz: Your senses are correct! ;)_

_Ali6132: I get why you suspect Izzy! I mean did dress up as a bear once to scare everyone! :P I'm not even sure yet if or how much she is/would be a part of it. I'm still figuring out that part, so no promises or spoilers from me here! ;) Yeah they did mention it in Noah's Gambit, maybe that's also why it got my attention more. I agree with your view on it though. I did the same with DanganRonpa! xD My first step was trying to download the game though. When that didn't work I watched all the episodes in a few days too! ^^And yes, the werewolves will be coming back in the story! I won't say how they will be and what they'll do though! ;)_

_GeM216: Glad you like it! I'm a fan of werewolves and stuff too, hooray for supernatural! xD (I have never seen Teen Wolf, I even forgot it existed xP) Yeah Noah was running to get a better condition! Sorry if that wasn't clear! :) Sci-fi, supernatural and randomness all sound good! It's a shame you can't upload the stories otherwise I would have loved to read them! Yes well I think Bridgette is just very clumsy and not dumb at all, also Noah spelled out most of the mystery for her. She just had to go along with his line of thinking. ;) Yeah Dawn is a bit creepy here, but didn't most contestants think of her that way in Revenge of the Island? I don't plan on making her(much) creepier though! ;)_

**Wow it's way too long since I uploaded the last chapter! Even longer than my London break, that's bad. I'm totally out of it.. .. It'll come back once I start writing though. Maybe some of you have noticed that I changed the cover ****again****. *sigh* You know this is the 4th time I did that? xD Still I like this one the most though! If you want to see the picture in full look up Fear of Scear in Deviantart! ^^**

**Kinda rushed to upload this chapter, so plz forgive me for any grammar mistakes or anything. I'll correct it later if it turns out to be too bad.**

* * *

Once Noah returned from the chirurgeon he immediately got his next assignment from Theodore. This was one he didn't mind much, since it would actually come in handy and he could take all the time he wanted for it. He had to map out the area around the village, and would get multiple days to do so. Each morning he did have a start with running around the village again though.

Today three days had passed since he arrived here. What meant that it would be time for another campfire tonight.

Before Noah would continue with mapping out the area he decided to pay the library a visit again. This since he had read all the books he had taken the first time, and he could really use more information. He had just finished his round around the village and it was still ridiculously early. This gave Noah a bit of hope that he wouldn't run into Alejandro or Scarlett while searching for his books.

Noah made his way inside, put the books he had already read on the counter and went to the mythology section. Before he could even take one book he felt another presence in the room. It felt eerie instead of annoying so it had to be Scarlett.

'What are you doing in the mythology section?' She asked very directly.

'Finding bedtime stories for the kids. They complained I wasn't acting fatherly enough, and I think this should do the trick.'

'Cute,' Scarlett said with a deadly serious expression, she was far from amused.

'Why are you up so early.' Noah asked. Trying to bide time as he nonchalantly browsed through the books.

'Because you are.'

'Uh, stalker much?' There were multiple interesting titles about werewolves that would be able to help him with the mystery. Taking all these would let Scarlett on to what Noah knew though, and he couldn't let that happen. He doubted about his next move. What would be smart?

'My patience is running out, so just tell me what you're looking for.' Scarlett seemed way past annoyed. And even though he knew he shouldn't push her further Noah just couldn't help it. It was way too fun to see her normally well-constructed defensive wall crumble so easily at his words. Words were his power, and it felt good to use it.

'You want to know what I'm into? Oh, I'm flattered really, just not that into you.' Noah said deadpan. while he kept scanning the books.

'You're such a nitwit.'

'That's not what you said the day before the day before yesterday. It's that the best insult you can come up with? A contradiction of your own words?'

'You're an ineffably conglomerate of intellectual constipation and a heinous irredeemably boring object of execration.' Scarlett sighed but her irritated expression remained.

'That's actually a quite impressive one, I knew you had it in you.' Noah said with slight ridicule in his tone. He knew he couldn't stall longer, he had to make a decision now.

'Let me tell you what your options are at this point. Tell me what you're looking for and I'll let you take with you the books you want. If you refuse to tell me I won't let you take anything. And don't take this lightly, you won't even get the chance to browse a book without my permission. Not now, not ever.'

'Okay, okay.' Noah put his hands up to show he meant well. 'I'll tell you, I was looking for this book.' Noah pulled out a book called: "The myth of the Clockmaker's Oversight" and showed it to Scarlett. 'Normally I'm not into myths, but since I'm living with a clockmaker myself I thought I would give it a try.'

'I thought you lived with a candle maker?' Scarlett said with suspicion.

'Yes, well.. He does more than making candles. He also combines the two, you must have seen a candle clock before right? You can find them everywhere here.'

'Take the book,' Scarlett returned it to Noah. 'I'm too tired for this, just get out of here.'

'Had a long night?'

'Yeah, I was..' Scarlett bit her lip, irritated again. She obviously hadn't slept for long, the tiredness was visible on her whole face and gesture. It also made her more vulnerable for slip-ups. Probably why she didn't try to extort more information from Noah. 'No matter, just leave. And remember my offer, an agreement with me could be very beneficial to both of us.'

'I'll consider it.' Noah said honestly. He didn't think he would accept the offer, but when he had to choose between Alejandro and Scarlett the latter was still a better option in his opinion. He could stand her more than that eel, so using her to get Alejandro down could become an option in the future.

Without looking back Noah took the book and left the library. It's a shame it wasn't the book he had came for though. Scarlett had to have invented some kind of alarm on the library since she seemed barely awake. She was more serious about this whole ordeal than Noah would have thought, or hoped for that matter. Now he had to find another way to get his information about werewolves. The villagers obviously didn't want to talk about it, and it would raise suspicion if Noah would ask too many people about it. Theodore also wasn't an option, he wouldn't tell him or use it to get Noah to do even more stuff for him. But who else could...

Suddenly it hit Noah. There was a certain Goth girl that was way into the horror genre, she had to know something right? Mapping out the area could wait a bit more, he would first make his way too the locksmith so he could...

Wait no, that wasn't smart. Big chance Gwen would be just as irritated as Scarlett about waking up early, he could better wait. So mapping out it the area it is for now. Noah had seen quite a bit of the surroundings already, but Theodore wanted him to explore even further. Of course Noah had complained about this, a lot. What convinced him to go on with it was that Theodore was way to determined that it would help Noah in the challenge. And that made him wonder about what was out there exactly.

When Noah made his way towards the gate he suddenly heard someone call out his name.

'See you later Dave,' Sky said, sounding a bit nervous for some reason. Dave didn't seem to notice that though, she hid it quite well. 'I can't let Noah wait for me!'

Sky came walking towards Noah, took his arm and pulled him further towards the gate. Since Noah wasn't doing any effort it resulted more in her dragging him to the gate. 'Wow, a lift. Great, thanks.' Noah said sarcastically. 'You know what I think your most redeeming quality is? Your honesty, really it's just.. amazing how you can make it seem so real.'

'Ah shut up,' Sky said feeling a bit guilty. 'You would do the same if you were in my shoes.'

'I highly doubt it.' Noah deadpanned. Once they were outside the village Sky finally let go of Noah. 'What did you say to him that we would do together?'

'Walk, in the forest.' Sky said, avoiding Noah's gaze. 'If I walk along with you for a few minutes I won't have lied to him.'

'No, you probably mentioned it as if it was an appointment.' Noah sighed. 'Please don't pull me in your web of lies, I don't feel like going along with it.'

'You don't need to, just say nothing about it.' Sky sighed. 'It's just that Dave is kinda obsessed? He became crazy at the end of Pakitew island. When he found out I actually broke up with my boyfriend he started to get hope again though. He just doesn't give up on me, it's kinda annoying.'

Noah shrugged. 'You're at fault though, your mixed signals are what's making him mad.'

'I don't give mixed signals.' Sky said. 'I clearly said it wouldn't work out.'

'But you also said you liked him. Really, women can be such a pain. Just be completely honest with the guy.'

'Maybe, I still don't know though.'

'How you should be honest? It's not that hard, just don't lie.' Noah was kinda annoyed at Sky's presence. It was not like he hated her, but she was just making everything such a big problem. She was justifying her own mistakes, and pinning the consequences of her lies all on Dave. Not that Dave was without blame, but she started the whole mess. 'Do you like the guy or not?'

'I don't.. I think.' Sky answered, adding the last part quietly.

'Then make up your mind before you hurt him again. I don't feel like getting another psychopath in this game, we have plenty already.'

'It's not that easy you know. On one side he's sweet, but seeing him go out of control like that isn't really a turn on.'

'Just weigh the pros and cons then.' Noah shrugged.

'You clearly never been in love, it doesn't work like that.' Sky sighed. 'I really don't know how I ever thought you liked Samey.'

'Sammy.' Noah said as a reaction, it came out before he knew it.

'What?' Sky asked confused.

'Nothing,' Noah answered quickly, wondering to himself why he said that, it wasn't necessary.

'No you said something. Sammy was it? Is that how you call Samey?'

'Whatever.' Noah acted like he didn't care one bit, or wait.. He didn't care one bit, no acting involved.**1 **'Aren't you supposed to turn back by now?'

'Wait a minute, now I vaguely remember her saying something about that at the beginning of Pakitew.. How do you know though, you weren't even in that season.'

'I watched it and I actually remember stuff.' Noah shrugged.

'Yeah, but nobody else calls her that, why correct me?' Sky's mind trailed off, trying to find the answer. 'Why do you care?'

'The unicorns told me to, I have no part of the blame.' Noah started to feel slightly uncomfortable. Why did people care so much and why didn't his behavior repel Sky? Normally constant sarcastic remarks got people to go away in no time.

'Now I get it.' Sky said with the same kind of smile Bridgette had had the other day. She already took a wrong conclusion of this whole ordeal. Noah sighed mentally, why did people want to see relationships in everything? He only talked with the girl for a day! Maybe it was Heather's alliance spreading the rumor just to annoy him.

'You can better spare your thoughts for your own problems right now. Wouldn't want you to waste any brain cells on nonsensical conclusions.'

'You do have a point.' Sky sighed heavily. 'I think I know what to do now though with Dave, thanks for your advice. You were surprisingly... helpful.'

'Wasn't trying to,' Noah answered honestly. Sky didn't listen anymore though, she already turned around and made her way back to the village. Finally Noah could start at his assignment from Theodore. How earlier he had it done how better. He still had to talk with Gwen too today and there was also the campfire later in the evening.

* * *

**1- Someone is in denial and it isn't me.. :P**

**Not a very long chapter, forgive me please? *cute eyes* Just kidding, it's not my shortest one so it should be okay. I could have made it longer but I just really wanted to post something again! I had quite some trouble with school lately so I wasn't able to write this earlier. Now those problems are almost resolved though so, yey! More free time for me! :D**

**Question: Is there a character that you would like to see more in the story? If so please leave the name in the comments and I'll let them show up soon again! ;)**

**Contestants reminder:**

**TDI:**** Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, Duncan, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Noah.**

**TDWT:**** Alejandro, Sierra**

**TDROTI:**** Cameron, Dawn, Jo**

**TDPI:**** Amy, Sammy, Dave, Ella, Sky, Scarlett, Topher.**


	16. Sammy's visit and Gwen's werewolves

_pizzawizz: I think Scarlett is a bit of a combination of the two actually now you mention it. Only with a bunch extra evil on top of it!_

_Ali6132: I think Sky __**really**__ wanted advice, even if it was from Noah. Plus her guilt probably made her stay, otherwise she would have lied to Dave about talking a walk with Noah. See this chapter's title? Something's gonna happen with Sammy again! ^^_

_My favorite Danganronpa character was Togami for a while, I kinda like his jerkiness is some way and how he does not make a big point of things. (Him messing up Chihiro's body was kinda twisted though xD) But now I like Celes the best! She's so awesome! ^^ Also Aoi is nice, plus how protective Sakura is of her is also extremely cute. :3 And yes, Junko's hairbows are cool! Never thought about my favorite execution, might just agree on that one of Celes! The first one of Leon was very simple but really ironic and painful, think that was a good one too._

_GeM216: Hi again! :D I know I also have that Grammar Nazi sense when I read other stories. They just slip by more easily when you write something yourself. Probably because I already know the text and skip over the errors as I read without realizing. :S Yeah that's why I put the character list! I tend to forget it even myself hehe. Scarlett is creepy, and it was so early that most weren't up. Well except for Sky because she works at the Bakery and Dave because well... he really is a stalker! xD_

_KovatePrivalski97: I think she just had a long night. Not much sleep can make a person cranky, even Scarlett. A good night sleep should keep her from losing it, now it's up to me if she gets that hehe. ;) I'll take your word for it then that the word you couldn't find at the moment was positive! ;)_

**Heads up: The author's note at the end of the chapter is a bit long, but I'd say definitely worth reading since it tells a bit about the story. Good luck with this chapter! Prepare for vague new oc's and horror stories! ;)  
**

* * *

It was already like 4pm when Noah returned to the village. He had been mapping for more than 6 hours! Ugh, he was beat! He took a bit of the potion that he had gotten from Dawn. He always carried it with him now, though he couldn't use it more than three times a day if he didn't want to get side effects. Because of the potion he didn't feel as much pain in his limbs when he took long walks, what made it much more bearable. Otherwise Noah would have preferred sleeping outside to all this exercise.

His map had grown quite a bit, what actually made him feel a bit proud. This time he had walked around the lake he had been watching with Sammy when they had just arrived at Scear. It was a lot bigger than he would have thought, as was the island to be honest. At one point there was even a bridge crossing the lake. And close to the bridge were a few small houses of lumberman. They gathered the wood that was used at all the campfires. Yeah he learned quite a bit from Theodore's tasks and his physique was actually becoming better. Noah hated to admit it, especially because he always acknowledged himself as one of the laziest persons on earth... or at least of Total Drama, but he was started to enjoy it. Even though he still didn't ask Theodore many questions, he was starting to respect him more. Heck, he even started to **trust him** a bit. Crazy right?

Noah made his way towards the Lock maker's house, what was across his own. Once inside he was greeted by two siblings. Or as Theodore had called them: The Heartling twins. The two girls wore the same outfits what seemed to have been influenced a bit by the clothing he imagined pirates to wear. Their outfit was a dark toned red what fitted well their long black hair what was wrapped up in high ponytails. The two twins looked alike in every aspect. They even had the same scar over their left eye. It wasn't bad enough that it had caused their eyes damage. No it looked more like the one Scar had from the Lion king. How could they both end up with a scar like that?

'You have been followed.' One of the twins said in a dark tone.

Noah looked a bit confused. 'What you mean me?' He said pointing to himself. He hadn't noticed anyone following him. And if it was true, how would the twins know? They had been inside the whole time.

'Just look behind you, trough the window next to the door.' The other twin said.

Without actually believing them Noah turned around, only to see that they had been right. He saw Sammy walking over to the candle maker -his- house. She stood there a bit awkwardly and she looked around like she was committing a great crime. Then she took a deep breath and knocked on the door to find that it was Theodore who opened it for her instead of Noah.

'She must have been tracking you from quite a distance.' The first twin said.

'Otherwise she would have seen you go inside this building instead of your own.' The second one added.

'Poor thing, maybe she had something really important to say to you.'

'She seemed pretty nervous about it.'

Noah felt the girls grinning next to him as they looked over his shoulder at Sammy. Noah didn't pay much attention though. No his thoughts were dedicated to finding a reason as for why Sammy went to visit him. He couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and reached for the doorknob, only to be pulled back by one of the twins.

'Leaving without introduction?' The first one said again, they just took turns with every sentence. In Noah's opinion they were emphasizing the whole twin thing too much with it, but they didn't seem to be the types that would take note of his opinion though. So he didn't mention it for now, he had other things to think about.

'Maybe the girl **did** see you go inside here.' The second went on.

'Maybe she wanted to be sure you weren't there.'

'So she could speak to Theodore.'

'Alone..' The first twin smirked darkly.

'If that's the case, it would be rude to disturb them, wouldn't it?'

'See,' The first twin pointed towards the candle maker's house where Noah could see Sammy following Theodore inside and closing the door behind her. 'She doesn't want to talk to you.'

'So just stay with us.' The second twin pulled Noah away from the door to the center of the room.

Noah felt confused and conflicted, what didn't happen very often. It was probably the combination of the creepy twins combined with the sudden visit of Sammy what made him unsure of the situation. It all just didn't feel real. 'How did you girls knew she was following me?' Noah asked to whatever twin would respond. He was already starting to see them as one person since they didn't seem to have an opinion of their own.

'We can see through many things.' One of the twins said mysteriously.

'We know many things.'

'But we do not share.'

'With those we deem not worthy.'

'But enough about us.'

'Let's talk about you.'

The twins were twirling around Noah like snakes who were toying with their prey, it actually made him a bit uncomfortable to be honest. He hid it well though by just standing in his normal pose and keeping his usual deadpan expression. Still the twirling and switching lines made him feel like one of them could be the mirror image of the other. 'Not much to say about me really.' Noah said in a bored tone. He didn't feel like talking to them, he rather wanted to go back home to find out what Sammy and Theodore were talking about.

'That can't be true.'

'You must be special.'

'Theodore doesn't take scum.'

'Not does he make them their apprentice.'

'Wait, what?' Noah asked. 'I know nothing of an apprenticeship. He just helps me train that's all.'

'So naïve.' One of the twins -Noah had already lost track of who was who- went over his chin with her long red decorated fingernails. It made a chill run down Noah's spine. He hadn't expected there to be even darker, creepier and even vaguer people than Theodore in the village.

'So oblivious to all.'

'Yet, potential he must have.'

'He just hasn't shown us yet.'

'Why does he hold back?'

'I want to know.' The twin that hadn't touched him yet came in closer and looked deeply into his eyes. Her eyes were a very dark brown that had a thin almost yellowish line around the center. It was unnatural and mesmerizing at the same time. Noah actually found himself staring right back at them. As a response the twin giggled.

'He has **something** sister,' she said. 'I can see it in his eyes, he's smart.' This was the first follow up of two sentences spoken by one twin without any word of the other. 'Tell me, **Noah**.' She emphasized his name. 'What do you think of me?' She flattered her eyelashes and moved even closer to Noah. 'What do you think of **us**?'

'Seriously, what are you doing?' Noah said dryly, trying to break the awkward tension that the twins had build up.

'Maybe I'm doing nothing.'

'And maybe she's not.' The other twin said quietly like a whisper.

For a moment it looked almost like the twin nearest to him was about to kiss him, very slowly. That couldn't be true though, right? Noah's head was spinning, none of their words or actions seemed to make any sense to him.

'Someone's here to spoil the fun.' The twin whispered stopping only a few inches from Noah's lips what caused him to still feel her breath on his skin. He immediately took a step back, finally freed from the sort of trance he had seemed to be in. This step lead him to bump against the other twin though who caught his shoulders.

'Cara, Mia.' Gwen came in from a door on the second floor. There was a short sort of inner balcony where the trap was attached too. Gwen looked at the scene but her face bear no sign of confusion. Even though one twin was holding Noah from behind and the other one was bend towards him. 'What are you doing?' She sighed like this sort of thing happened more often.. what it probably did.

'He's cute,' The twin from behind Noah let go of one of his shoulders so she could use it to go through his hair.

'Hey!' Noah reacted in an irritated matter swatting her hand off. The girls didn't give his word any attention however.

'He's so different from how you said he was.'

'Not at all irritating.'

'Or sarcastic.'

'Maybe it's because he's still thinking about that girl.'

'Must be, he doesn't seem to think about us at all.'

'Such a shame.'

'Really.'

'Noah,' Gwen said ignoring the girls. 'Are you okay?'

'Sure, I just..' Noah pulled himself away from the grasp of the twin and walked up the stairs to Gwen. 'I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. Could we do that in your room because I've had quite enough of them.' He gestured to the twins. 'They are so weird I don't even know how to mock them, it's that bad! Well I could comments about their obvious twin-thing that they are laying on way too thick, but that would be too easy.'

'Seems like the boy has found his voice back.' One of the twins giggled.

'Maybe it's because of Gwen.'

'I wonder what's with that..'

Gwen nodded in understanding, though the thought did cross her mind that she wouldn't have minded it if Noah had stayed more quiet. 'Sure, come in.'

'How can you endure living with them?' Noah said as he seated himself on a chair while Gwen sat on her bed. He could see her sketchbook laying next to her, what explained what she was doing alone in her room.

'You get used to it, and they get used to me. They know I'm not that easy to toy with.' Gwen couldn't contain a smirk. 'I must say you disappointed me. I thought they would have a bit more of a challenge with getting in your head.'

'I was just.. distracted.. By something else than them to be clear.' Noah said with a light blush. She was right, how could he have let them toy with him so much? That wasn't like him. No he had his guard down because of Sammy following him to his house and such. Though the twirling of the twins did add to his dazzled state, they were good at what they did.

'If that's what you want to believe, sure.' Gwen said still wearing a bit of a smirk. 'I won't ask further, since I guess that's not what you wanted to talk with me about.'

This surprised Noah. She was the first girl not to ask further about him and Sammy and just leave the subject alone. 'I've found out something about this village, a big thing about the mystery, and I thought of sharing it with you.'

'Why?' Gwen said. 'You want something in return don't you?'

'Just everything you know about a certain subject. I have tried to go to the library for more information but Scarlett is keeping a constant watch on all the books there. And since you can probably give me the same answers a book can I chose to go to you. I'd rather have you know about it than Scarlett and her little alliance.'

'With Alejandro, Heather and Amy you mean?'

Noah looked at her, stunned.

'Sorry, Bridgette told me. She thought it would be fine because you said that making more people aware of it would decrease the chance of someone falling for their schemes.'

'That's not exactly what I said!' Noah let out an irritated sigh. 'Okay, who else did she tell?'

'Well Dawn knows, since she lives with her. Also Sammy because she lives next doors and then there is me, no one else, I swear. And these people won't spread the information, you can be sure of that.'

'I hope so, if word gets out that I was the source of this information than that alliance will never forgive me.' Noah decided to not worry about it though, he could have expected this from Bridgette. She was way more open and cared way too much about others to keep quiet. 'Why didn't she tell Ella though? She lives with Sammy. Also, you called her Sammy, not many people do that.'

'Bridgette told me how it bugs you that her name isn't used right..-'

'-It does not!' Noah interrupted. 'Somehow people seem to think that, but it's not true. I just keep to facts, that's all. Really, don't believe those rumors.'

'Rumor**S**? You refer to more than the name thing?' Gwen smirked. It was way to fun to get back at Noah for his annoying sarcastic behavior. Seeing Noah's irritated and slightly awkward expression was enough for her though. 'But back to your question, yes we didn't tell Ella. She isn't busy with the game at all. She just joined for the fun of it, this is like a fairytale come true for her. Telling her bad things just doesn't seem like the right thing to do, so we decided to let her live in her dream world.'

'True.' Noah said, having calmed down from Gwen's teasing. 'Glad my warning is sprout out carelessly.'

'But now to get back at your **original** question and goal for coming here. Sure, I agree to it. So shoot, what have you found out.'

'Okay, but just go with me here. I know it sounds unbelievable, but this town has had trouble with.. werewolves in the past.'

'Cool!' Gwen said. 'It's finally getting interesting here, werewolves are awesome.'

'So I went to the right person I presume?' Noah asked.

'Yeah you are.' Gwen smirked happily. 'I know almost every werewolf movie. Even the really bad ones like _An American werewolf in London._**1 **Though they are a bit different in every version, I'll try to give you a main explanation that applies to almost every one of them. The disease that causes men to turn to werewolves is called lycanthropy. Mostly people get cursed with it, it's rarely something they actually choose. The belief of werewolves kinda came out in the medieval times, so I guess it's logical they put it here. It kinda went parallel with the witch hunts.'

'Did they have any ground for it?' Noah asked.

'Not much at first. It did became more believable with Peter Stumpp, they persecuted werewolves more fiercely after that.'

'They thought Peter Stumpp was a werewolf? Why? Surely it seems more logical to label a man as delusional instead of as a werewolf.'

'Well he admitted to being one. Plus there was something going on with him losing his left hand as they had cut a left paw of a wolf, not much ground for that accusation though. The other things they blamed him for were better founded. He was supposed to be serial killer and a cannibal. He even confessed to it, saying that he had killed and eaten fourteen children -one of which was his son- and two pregnant woman whose fetuses he ripped from their wombs. He ate their hearts panting hot and raw and he had devoured the brain of his son with great pleasure. He even admitted doing this as a werewolf. Claiming he had been practicing black magic since the age of twelve. He did not transform into a werewolf with the full moon though. No, instead he had gotten a belt from the Devil that gave him the power to transform into the "_likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body, and mighty paw_." **2**' Gwen seemed way to happy talking about this topic and she knew way too much. Noah now got why the librarian of her school had called her fascination for Jack the Ripper morbid and occasionally offensive. She just liked the twisted and gory details too much. 'How he got to his end was horrible! They killed not only him but also his mistress and his daughter, who he had a incestuous relationship with. His death was the worst of the three though! They put him on a wheel and ripped off his flesh in ten places from his body and then went on with breaking every..-'

'No, more please.' Noah said. He could take much, but this fascination of Gwen even started to freak him out.

'Ahh sorry,' Gwen said, back in her normal mode. 'I just get way to drawn in to those stories you know.'

'I don't **know**.' Noah said. 'And I'm glad about that, really glad. But the point kinda is that werewolves don't necessarily have to change with the full moon but can also have belts? And they just kill people for the pleasure of eating them.'

'You could say that,' Gwen said. 'If you want to strip all the fun away from the story. Some people say that the accusations of werewolves were based on medical conditions, there isn't as much ground for that as you'd think though.'

'Are there ways of exposing a werewolf?'

'There are many theories.' Gwen thought about it. 'But that really depends. Some are just nonsense like fur would be seen in the wound when you cut them or bristles under the tongue. That differs so much I just can't give you sum up. Just like how you can become one, that also differs way too much.'

'Well it's not by getting slashed by one at least. Lots of townsfolk have scars but the werewolf plague seems to have stopped for a month. You know of a cure or some way to stop them?'

'Not many ways to cure it. Though the plant wolfsbane should help, though that's also supposed to kill them. Also they can't stand silver in most stories, so it might be smart for us to start carrying that around.'

* * *

**1- I do not recommend watching this movie for horror, it's more comedy actually, it's that bad! xD**

**2- This is quoted, not my own words.**

**Topics I want to discuss about this chapter:**

**THE TWINS:**

**Fun fact**: I based the Heartling twins a bit on Adelita and Scardelita, the twins in the movie Book of Life. Only how I described their looks though, nothing else. It's such a shame they don't get much attention in that movie, they are awesome! ^^

About their names: Cara means "beloved" and Mia means "my" Together they mean "my beloved" in Italian. I thought it was pretty cute and more original than two similar sounding names. **Let me know what you think of them!** (the twins I mean, though if you have an opinion about the names you are welcome to share that too ;)

**PETER STUMPP / GWEN:**

Didn't make this up, it's a real story. I would imagine Gwen knowing about this and all the gory details since her fascination for Jack the Ripper was already described as morbid and occasionally offensive in the episode "I see London" from Total Drama World Tour. (what she seemed to be content with) So her knowing many details about another serial killer doesn't seem that strange.

**OVERALL:**

What did you think of this chapter? Too much werewolf information? Yes.. probably. Sorry I let myself (or Gwen let herself) go there. Hope you didn't mind too much. Also the twins! Do you like them or hate them or do you feel nothing special when reading their dialogue? Even then please let me know! ;)

Also: Hehe, I'm being mean here! Calling a chapter "Sammy's visit" without actually telling what the visit was about! Well for that you'll have to wait for the next chapter. Now my question is. **Should I write the conversation with Sammy and Theodore from Sammy's perspective as an extra chapter?** Would you guys be interested in reading that or would you rather be kept in the dark with Noah? (unless Theodore becomes talkative all of a sudden, what is very unlikely)

**Question: Is there a character that you would like to see more in the story? If so please leave the name in the comments and I'll let them show up soon again! Probably at the next campfire! So take your chance! ;D**

**Contestants reminder:**

**TDI:**** Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, Duncan, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Noah.**

**TDWT:**** Alejandro, Sierra**

**TDROTI:**** Cameron, Dawn, Jo**

**TDPI:**** Amy, Sammy, Dave, Ella, Sky, Scarlett, Topher.**

**"Evil" alliance so far:**

**-Heather, Amy, Alejandro, Scarlett**

**People that know of the evil alliance:**

**-Noah (duh), Bridgette, Dawn, Sammy, Gwen.**

**Those who know of ****Noah's irritation of the name Samey:  
**(added this for fun xD)

**-Theodore, Bridgette, Gwen, Dawn, Sky.  
**


	17. Extra chapter: Samey's conflict

_**Guest:**__ Next update! :D_

_**Ali6132: **__Thank you! Toko Fukawa is a real odd one. When I knew she liked reading I thought: cool!.. and then she thought Togami telling her that she needed a bath meant that he cared about her! xD I've heard she get's lot's of character development in the Danganronpa game: Another Episode. Never actually played it though, don't even have it, but I am curious to it! :D_

_Ok! Well this is the revealing chapter about Sammy! Not only about her recent conversation with Theo but also her thoughts on what happened before, since that explains why she feels a certain way about Noah. ;) Well I think most who read fanfic's of Total Drama are kinda obsessed with TD! We are all kinda like Sierra in that way I suppose! xD Dawn and Sierra are noted! I think I'll give Sierra and Cody some more attention soon at the next campfire!_

_Glad you like Cara and Mia! I like cool/creepy myself too hehe, what also explains them and the loads of werewolf info Gwen gives. I've watched that movie "an American Werewelf in London" with friends of mine because we knew it was bad, it was even worse than we imagined, but because of that funny to watch though! xD Glad you liked the werewolf info of Gwen! I was afraid I had let myself go too much on that part but glad to know other people like it too! xD_

_This might be my longest response to a review hehe, but that's because I like your long review! ^^_

_**WinLik3aBosS:**__ Thanks for answering my question! I'm so glad you like the Heartling twins! I wanted to present them as a unity that think the same way, they have such a deep -creepily deep- connection that they would even think of fighting with each other! :P And I admit it was way too fun to write Noah dazzled by the twins! :P Answers to your other questions about Sammy will be answered in this chapter! I wrote it soon so no long waiting is required! ;)_

_Harold is a good suggestion! ^^ I've only given him very few lines and appearances so far, and he deserves more attention than that! ;) I'll put him in again soon, probably next chapter!_

**EXTRA CHAPTER!**** :D**

**Yeah I decided to call it that since I wasn't originally planning on putting it in. I've written in Sammy's perspective before, but not a whole chapter! That's right, no Noah here!**

**... Ok, that a bit of a lie. It starts out with Sammy thinking about what happened before. Thus also talking about Noah. It'll explain to y'all why she and Noah got so thick in such a short time. And she also mentions these feelings for him to Theodore in the second part of this chapter!**

* * *

Finally Sammy had some free time on her hands. She had been working hard in the garden for her host Margaret. Partly because she felt she owed the woman for taking her in and also because the woman was quite old and it wouldn't be good for her back if she had to kneel down that much. Most off all it was because she wanted to keep herself from over thinking though. Because honestly, the whole ordeal with Noah and the other with her sis Amy made her mad to an extinct that she just didn't know what to do anymore.

First there was Amy, telling her what to do without even asking for her opinion... ever. She just used Sammy for whatever she wanted without even taking note of her little sisters feelings. Sammy knew that, but still she obeyed her sisters words. After all she knew the effects of going against Amy way too well. What happened after Pakitew Island.. the few friends she ever had... She just didn't want to go through that again..

But now she had no friends at all. The closest to a friend would be Amy, how sad was that? Well she also got along with Jasmine, but she never saw her anymore. She had gone too Australia with Shawn on vacation and they had been building their dreams with the money they had won on the Total Drama season. That left Jasmine little to no time to talk to Sammy. Sammy of course had said that she didn't mind it all, that she was doing better and had even made some friends of her own.. but that had all been a lie of course.

Sammy's eyes already teared up thinking about it. Just like when they had arrived at this village. That time she wasn't even alone, and since she hadn't want anyone to see her cry she had gone off into the woods. There she found the most beautiful lake. Staring at it however didn't make her feel any better. It felt like the lake could have been a pool of her own tears that would haunt her forever.

It was then however that someone else had stepped into the scene, someone she had never expected to show any compassion towards her. It was Noah, the one known as a sarcastic know-it-all who only cared about himself. He walked towards her and asked a casual question.

'Tired of the group already?' He had said, to which Sammy had replied that she had just wanted to see more of the forest, nothing else. She had quickly wiped away her tears and had acted like nothing was wrong. She had even asked Noah if he would like to join her. Noah had agreed and had taken a seat next to her to just plainly ignore her afterwards. It felt ridiculous at the time. Normally people would ask her why she was crying, and then Sammy would lie, saying her eyes teared up because she had hurt her foot or something. But Noah hadn't asked anything of the sort.. It was like he had** known** that she wouldn't be honest.

And speaking about being honest..

Sammy had already formed a different opinion of him before talking to him at the lake. Even before he -kinda- stood up for her on the hay wagon. No, it had already been like a week before that, when she rewatched all the Total Drama seasons to prepare for Fear of Scear. She even had made a list before watching the episodes with the contestants that would most likely be chosen. Those were the ones that she would pay special attention to.

Why she had gone through all this trouble? Well that was simple. She **needed** the price money. It would be enough for her to get away from her parent's home, away from Amy.. She could start a new life somewhere and Amy didn't even have to know about it! She could distance herself from that brad and be who she wanted to be. She could move close to a nice college so she could study and well... that was her plan.

Noah was obviously on the list she had made that day, and she soon saw him as a potential ally. Sure, at the dodgebrawl episode of Total Drama he was pretty annoying, but aside from that Sammy had grown to respect him. She loved how he just spoke his mind to everyone, it was like the opposite of how she acted. Noah had been one of the few contestants that wasn't afraid to talk back to Eva, and it actually worked out for him to such an extinct that they worked together to get the money at the end of the first season. When Eva had gotten distracted by Justin Noah just said straight to her face that she had messed up, and she just agreed with him without any act of violence! When he made fun of Duncan who was left by Courtney on the beach he didn't get such a great response. Duncan had torn Noah's pants off and Noah ran off, screaming like a girl while also running in that matter. When Eva teased him about this he just shrugged her comment off, no shame whatsoever. It didn't matter to him what people thought of him, he just did what he wanted.

In Total Drama World Tour Noah had shown to be observant. He was one of the only contestants that noticed Alejandro's evil behavior early on, sadly this was also what got him voted out. He also had found a friend in Owen, what was funny since they were in no way alike. It seemed cute though, Owen even mentioned Noah multiple times after his departure.

After watching all of that Sammy just couldn't see Noah as annoying anymore, she had even started to look up to him.

So when he came to sit with her to watch the lake that first day and didn't ask her anything, Sammy felt really nervous. He had become somewhat of an inspiration for her because she wanted to be able to talk as freely as he did. So after a few minutes she broke the silence by asking him why he had followed her.

'I don't know actually,' Noah had replied in his usual deadpan voice. 'I guess curiosity took the best of me.'

This answer had just raised more questions with Sammy. If he was curious, then why didn't he ask her anything? Noah had replied to that by simple stating that it was none of his business.

'But I thought you were curious?' Sammy had asked.

It was then that Noah said something that would be engraved in her heart from that moment on. It was a sentence she wouldn't be able to forget if she'd tried.

'I can pretty much see it in your face. Besides, **you're acting like Samey again instead of Sammy**. I would have to be blind not to notice that.' His tone had been blunt, far from caring, but still... Nobody had ever been so direct and honest with her.

At first those words had scared her. 'Well, I guess you're right. I'm just Samey.' She had answered. Her insecurity had taken the best of her again, like usual.

'I only said that you're **acting** as Samey.' Noah had corrected her to Sammy's surprise. This time his tone did turn softer as he went on. 'I didn't say it's who you are. I thought that was something you had found out in Total Drama already, you made real progress there. Now you seem to be back at square one. I don't know what happened between the end of Pakitew Island and now, but it's not too late to turn back to Sammy.'

These words had given her hope. His words had been true, they couldn't have been more right. How he knew all that was a riddle for her though. Not even her parents or her friends at home had ever said something so meaningful, so on the spot, to her. It was strange...

Then Duncan and Courtney had interrupted the conservation. While Sammy had felt slightly awkward because she was found alone in the woods with a boy Noah didn't seem to care at all. He just told them the way to the others and didn't give them anymore attention. 'It think it would be best if we headed back too.' Noah had said soon after that. 'It wouldn't be good if we were the last ones to arrive.' He had stood up, ready to leave. Sammy hadn't been ready for that yet though. She still had wanted to talk to Noah, ask him for advice or at least thank him for being honest with her. For inspiring her.

So without thinking she had grabbed his pulse. She had looked him in the eyes.. but suddenly had been at a loss of words. _What am I doing?_ she had thought. Her hand that was touching Noah's skin had felt like it was burning. She had wanted to let go, but that would have meant that he would leave.. and she hadn't wanted that. When would they have another chance to speak again after that moment? Amy would make sure that wouldn't happen, Sammy thought. So she had to seize this opportunity.

'Sammy?' Noah had asked hesitantly.

Only now Sammy had realized she hadn't said a word after grabbing his pulse. Her face had grown bright red and she saw that even Noah felt awkward at that moment. She had let go of him right away as even more thoughts had began racing through her head. He had called her Sammy...

'Uh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to say...' Sammy had stuttered as she had been trying to find the right words. Before she had even come close Amy had walked in on them. As usual she had nagged a bit about Sammy's behavior and after that dragged Sammy away to the group that had been waiting. All their eyes had been on her and **especially** on Noah.

'Our sarcastic brain has found himself a girl.' Duncan had said with a big smirk.

Before Sammy even could have blushed at that suggestion Amy had reacted fiercely. 'No way. It's true that Samey is useless but she's not **that** much of a loser.'

'Sure, act like Sammy is the loser of you two.' Noah had answered on that, **again** calling Sammy by her real name. He had said it casually though, so nobody else had noticed. Also, he had stood up for her. Deliberately this time! Sammy's heartbeat had fastened as she thought of what this could mean.

'Wait,' Cody had asked Noah after that. 'I'm confused.. do you like Samey?'

By these words Sammy had looked over to Noah, extremely curious as to how he would react to them. He hadn't blushed or anything though, he hadn't even seemed to feel anything really, except for irritation.

'Ugh, can we just get inside the village please?'

'Sure, mister "I'm trying to dodge the question", it's totally obvious you like her,' Heather had tried to get under Noah's skin with those words, that was obvious. _No way she can actually believe that he likes me_. Sammy had thought. No reaction had come from Noah though because of Alejandro quickly changing the topic of the conversation.

After that things had went surprisingly well between Sammy and Noah. At the campfire she had even played a game with him, talked with him and even slightly role-played with him. It had felt so great! Like they had been friends for years!

But then everything went downhill. And not slowly either. It was more like a cliff then a hill that she fell off. Like the moments they had shared were thrown away to be forgotten forever. He had yelled at her. Sammy had cried.. And everyone had watched it happen...

It had felt like one of the worst moments of her life.

Sammy wiped away the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. No, she couldn't think about things like that anymore! Ella had told her that Noah had lied that night at the campfire. It had been because of Scarlett and Heather that he said those mean things, it hadn't been her fault.. he didn't hate her..

And yet..

If that was the case, then why didn't he say those words to her himself? Why didn't he ever speak to her, visit her.. Well, maybe Sammy was just expecting too much. It was not like they were real friends after all. Sure, Noah had said that he could be her friend. Or well his exact words had been "I could be your friend too I guess..". But he had just said that to make her feel better surely, it was no commitment or anything.

Sammy decided she wanted to see the lake again, maybe she needed some time to think after all. Since it all seemed way to blurry now, maybe if she just thought it over again it would all become clear. Also she wanted some time away from Ella, acting like she was okay around that girl had just became way to tiring.

On her way to the lake she saw Noah entering the village. He held a map in his hands that he looked at proudly. "_Ah, that's right."_ Sammy thought. _"I've heard about him mapping out the area." _He had to be done for today, so maybe he had free time too?

Sammy thought it over, maybe it would be better if she talked to him first. It would give her a chance to get rid of these feelings of insecurity. It would show her that everything was alright between them and there was nothing to worry about.

Still Sammy couldn't bring up the courage, so she decided to just follow him quietly. She had waited too long though, since he was already gone from sight. He probably had went to his house, since that was in the direction he had been walking towards. _Now you have to man up Sammy! _She said to herself. Just to be sure she looked around if anyone could see her. She didn't want any more rumors to start because of her, Noah probably wouldn't appreciate that. So being careful was of the essence here. She stood before the candle maker's house now, not being able to believe she was actually going to do this!

'Do I really dare..?' she murmured under her breath. Before she could back out she took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Who opened it wasn't Noah though, it was his host the candle maker. Theodore was the name if she remember correctly. He didn't say a word and just looked down at her, what made Sammy feel even more nervous than she had already been.

'Uhm, I'm sorry. I thought Noah was here.. Or well.. Is.. he.. here?' She asked very carefully.

'No he's not back yet I'm afraid.' The man answered.

'Oh, okay.' Sammy sad disappointed. When she had finally managed to find the courage to talk to him he wasn't even there!

'He can be back any moment though.' The candle maker gave her a slight smile. 'So why don't you wait inside for him while I make some tea?'

'I don't.. know if I.. should.' Sammy already felt awkward by just the thought of it. All the strength she had gathered was gone what left her standing there like a little lost child.

'I know for certain that you should.' The man sounded so confident that Sammy didn't want to disappoint him, still she wasn't sure. To be honest she was a bit curious to how Noah lived, but it wasn't worth the awkward time she would have to spend with his host.

'I'm Theodore.' the man said as he shook Sammy's hand.

'I'm Sammy.'

'Ah, I've heard about you.' The man walked off to make some tea. 'Noah has talked quite a lot about you.'

'He did?' Okay, now Sammy couldn't refuse the offer anymore. She closed the door behind her followed Theodore to free seats close to the fireplace. The weather outside had been kinda chilly so the soft glow from the fire was very welcome. 'What did Noah say about me?'

'Oh don't worry, about that for now.' the man smiled knowing full well that he had captured the girl's interest now. 'I would first like to ask you why you've come to visit him.'

'If it's a problem I'll just go..- '

'-..No I didn't mean it like that,' The man sighed, how insecure could someone get? 'I even invited you in remember?'

'Yeah, sorry.' Sammy fidgeted a bit in her chair, not sure if she wanted to talk about her feelings with a stranger.

'I'm just curious. I've heard about the fight you had with him at the last campfire, I've even seen it happen myself.'

'You did?' Sammy seemed to shrink away in the chair. She knew nothing about this man while he had heard stories about her and had even seen her run away crying. That wasn't really a good first impression.

'Noah said things he shouldn't have that night, he even admitted so himself right afterwards.'

'He did?' hope welled within Sammy.

Theodore chuckled at the change in the girl's tone, she was even easier to read than an open book. 'Yes he did. He even mentioned that he wanted to help you overcome your fear of standing up to your sister.'

'Yeah, he tried to do that.' He had given her great advice already, she just didn't do anything with it.. yet anyway. Except for thanking him for sharing it with her.

'Nothing he said helped? It was just an useless attempt that changed nothing for you?'

'No, no, no!' Sammy said immediately with an ashamed look on her face. She didn't realize that that was exactly what Theodore had wanted to accomplish with his words. 'Noah's words were perfect! It made me feel better, a lot better to be honest. But he just doesn't get what's at stake for me.'

'Well have you told him?'

'Not really.'

'So you don't trust him?

'No!' Sammy couldn't believe the man actually implied that. 'That's not it! The reason I'm not telling him is because.. it's because I'm afraid.'

'Of what?' Theodore kept asking questions to get her to fully the explain what she felt, just like he always did with Noah. There was one big difference between Sammy and his apprentice though, and that was that the boy always noticed what tactic the man was using on him. Sammy however fell right into the traps he placed, without even realizing she did so. It made getting information much easier, but also less challenging. It were at moments like these that remembered the candle maker how good of a choice he had made with Noah.

'Of what'll happen.' Sammy sighed defeated. 'Amy has already ordered me to get away from Noah, twice actually. And next time she will give no warning, she'll just take him away.' Sammy sniffed as she wiped small tears away. The dam that she had build that kept her emotions hidden had burst open, there was no stopping it now. 'She always does that! The last time I stood up to her she took all my friends away from me. The few friends I had..' Sammy broke into tears.. 'Everyone always believes her instead of me. She can trick people so easily that it's frightening. I don't know how she does it, but even my parents, my teachers... everyone. She had everyone winded around her finger.'

'So that's why you let her order you around?' Theodore asked.

'Yeah I know it's stupid.' Sammy laughed melancholically. 'Because now I have no friends at all, and still I do her bidding. But how sad it may be, she's the closest to a friend I have. If I don't hang around with her I have nobody at all.'

Theodore nodded understandingly while handing Sammy a tissue to dry her tears with. This girl had some serious issues. Not with her sister though, but with herself. She needed some enormous confidence boost. And Theodore knew just what could set that in motion. Or better yet, who could do that. 'Do you think Noah would be so easily swayed by your sister? Hasn't he proved to you that **you are the one he believes**?'

Sammy thought about the man's words while still sniffing a bit from her emotional outburst. Well Noah had said many things that implied so. He even literally said that Amy was the loser of the two siblings. 'He has...'

'Can I ask you something personal Sammy?' The man asked carefully.

'Well, I've already told you this much.' Sammy smiled a little. She had already told him much more about herself than anyone else... ever. So hiding anything else would be pretty useless at this point, right?

'How do you feel about Noah?'

Sammy's head grew as red as a tomato, she hadn't expected this question to be popped out so directly and suddenly! 'I uhm.. I..' The girl doubted if she should tell the man, but also about her answer. How did she feel about him? Was it more than respect, then acquaintanceship or even friendship? 'It started with admiration..' she then quietly began.

'Let me guess, because he always speaks his mind?' Theodore asked.

Sammy nodded in response. 'Yes, it's something I have much trouble with after all. But now that I've met him personally, now that I've talked with him... I think it has grown into something more.'

'You desire to be friends with him?'

'Yes, very much so!' Sammy's eyes lit up. 'When I talked to him at the first campfire.. We really got along, it was so much fun! It was like we had already been friends forever! But it was already before that, when I touched him it felt.. different than when I touch someone else. It makes me far more self conscious. Like my skin is on fire, but not in a bad way..? I must sound like an idiot now right?' Sammy laughed a bit. 'I'm sorry about this, overloading you with all my troubles and feelings. I don't even know you, so I have no idea what caused me to be so open with you.'

'Maybe you just really needed to talk to someone.' Theodore smiled friendly at her. 'It feels good to let it all out, doesn't it?'

Sammy nodded. 'It really does,' her smile faded. 'But I still don't know what I should do. I'd rather not tell Noah all this, but I know it's better to be honest and...-'

'-You don't have to tell him.'

'What?'

'Just put the advise he has giving you to use. Believe me when I say that that'll prompt him to talk to you. He won't be able to resist in fact.'

'You think so?'

'I know so. I've lived with the kid for a while, and I dare say that I almost know him better than he does himself.'

'I doubt that,' Sammy giggled. 'But do you think that would be best? What if Amy gets mad and what if she does manage to convince Noah a..-'

'-Don't worry so much about the future.' The man interrupted her. 'Sure Amy will be mad at first, but she'll get over it. Also you don't live together with her now, so she'll have to let out steam with her new housemates.'

'I don't think Heather will be happy with that.' Sammy giggled again. 'I guess you're right.'

'Think about it. Tonight would be an excellent time to show Noah that you do put his words to use. Everyone will see that you're Sammy instead of Samey. That sounds like an awesome accomplishment if you ask me.'

'Thanks for the advise Theodore,' Sammy got up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. 'I really needed this, if there is anything I can do for you..'

'Show Noah some of that gratitude of yours, I'm afraid he doesn't even know the word.' Theodore smirked.

'Will do,' Sammy saluted as she left the house. She was in full spirits now! She would show Noah, and with that everyone else, that she wasn't Samey anymore. And if Amy won't like it she'll have no other choice than to suck it up! Because this sister was not backing down! 

As Theodore watched the girl leave his smile faded. That girl had a serious crush on Noah. Sure she wasn't any danger now, but once she got out of her sister's shadow she could become one. Still he did believe he made the right choice for now by helping her. He would need Noah to feel like he belonged here, and how better to do that than by getting him a girlfriend?

Moments after Sammy left the candle maker saw Noah leave the lock makers house. The Heartling twins seemed to tease him and tried to pull him back into the house. Noah didn't even look up to them though as he walked away.

_They are both so naïve._ Theodore thought with a smile. _Both in a completely different way though. While Sammy doesn't notice it, Noah tries to deny it._

Theodore had many plans for the boy. Now it was only to hope that Sammy wouldn't get in the way, otherwise he would have to take countermeasures.

...still the chance was pretty big that she would die before ever reaching that point anyway.

* * *

**Teasing is such a fun thing to do hehe. :P Does Theodore mean well? Sure you all think he's evil now because of my descriptions of him, but what if that's only what I want you to think? Mwhahahaha...! :D**

So... Sammy! Yes she has a real crush on Noah! She doesn't even realize that herself yet though, kinda cute but ignorant at the same time. :P Hope you liked this extra chapter! It's the longest chapter yet!

**Until next time, that'll be the second campfire...finally! :D**


	18. A flower necklace

_**Abby:**__ I'm so happy you like it! ^/^ Nobody sees them as a couple before my fanfic, that's what makes it extra fun! :P I already suspected it was you from DA! Well you still read it very fast considering that school stuff you mentioned. I've got summer vacation now, so that means more time to write! I hope to update soon again! ;D_

_**pizzawizz:**__ You will get to see more of the twins! I like them too much to not let them show up again! xD Well I got Gwen's stories from Wikipedia mostly, but also from my own knowledge of werewolves. ;') Sammy and Noah's hook up is coming closer and closer... I did put them as a pairing in my description after all. :3_

_**Ali6132: **__Glad you loved it! 3 Well that's true, it was really nice of Theodore to listen to her. Plus his advise will prove to be helpful! ;)_

_I didn't know the protagonist for Danganronopa: Another Episode was Naegi's younger sister! Cool! :D I don't exactly own the games either. I have the first game on my pc though. I got it in a free *cough* but not very legal *cough, cough* way.. I just didn't want to purchase a psp to play just one game. And Yey a fanfiction account! Cool! ^^ Well tell me when your profile is finished! :D_

_**GeM216:**__ No need to apologize for not reading! School is number #1 priority! (I tend to get my priorities mixed up when it comes to school, I wouldn't recommend doing that! xD) Though I did notice you not giving a review, I just got used to it that much! ;) The twins were probably just toying with Noah, what includes getting in his head and hitting on him in their case. xD Yeah Theodore is extremely tricky! I doubt if there is one he can't manipulate. Noah at least knows it, but the things Theodore offers are just always the most reasonable choices. ._

_**acosta perez jose ramiro: **__That's exactly what happens, you guesses it correctly! My computer changes some words to things that look like the right thing, but mean something completely different. I'll look up the mistakes you mentioned! I was planning on giving my whole story a good read sometime to filter out mistakes. Also thank you for the compliment! :D_

**I reached 4,000 views at this point in time! Also; 13 favorites, 21 followers and 59 reviews! Thanks all of you! ****From my faithful reviewers who leave their opinion on almost every chapter to the one-time reviewers and the silent readers.. thank you all very much! ^^**

* * *

'How di-' Theodore started only to be cut right off by Noah.

'What was Sammy doing here?' he asked as he walked in the room. Theodore had just been making candles, something Noah surprisingly hadn't see him do a lot.

'Nothing important.' Theodore shrugged slightly as he put a newly made candle on a wheel to dry off.

'Don't even try that.' Noah sighed. 'Really, why can't you ever act like a normal person?'

'That wouldn't be fun at all.' Theodore smirked. 'You immediately assume the worst. What if I tell you that she just ordered some candles for Margaret?'

Noah almost believed the man, since it would explain why he suddenly acted like the candle maker he was supposed to be. However, Sammy had seemed way to nervous before walking in. No way that she just wanted to get a candle. 'Then I'd answer with a lie of my own, but that wouldn't bring our conversation very far, would it?' Noah deadpanned as an answer.

'You are not easily fooled,' Theodore stroked Noah ego a bit. 'Or you are just extremely distrustful. I hope the answer isn't the latter one.'

'A mix of both I'd say. You just have written mysterious and obnoxious all over you, hardy the trustful type.'

'Hmm..' The man seemed to think about Noah's words. 'No harm in saying it I guess. Sammy came here looking for you. When you weren't here I offered for her to wait inside. We talked a bit, and then she left.'

'Why did she leave if she was waiting for me?'

'You'll see. She decided to put the words she had been wanting to say to action. It seems like that girl is finally growing some backbone.'

Noah eyed the candle maker suspiciously, but decided that the man was speaking the truth. He still didn't know what Theodore's words meant exactly. Still it was more info he had expected to get out of the man. Not wanting to put extra emphasis on the subject of Sammy Noah decided to move on to something else what had been bothering him, something the twins had said to him. 'Do you see me as your apprentice?' This was a genuine question of him. Since he wanted a serious answer he decided to bring the question that way too.

'What gave you that idea?' Theodore asked, but his eyes betrayed that he already had a clue of what the answer would be.

'The obvious similarities between our clothing, and the specific use of that word by those twin snakes across the road.'

'Would you mind it if it was the case?' Theodore inquired further.

'Of course!' Noah said with slight disbelieve. 'I'm not just some pet of yours, do I need to engrave that message in that thick skull of yours myself or will you actually remember it this time?'

'I see there is some sort of misunderstanding here,' Theodore muttered. He took a seat close the fireplace, meaning for Noah to sit on the chair across from it. Theodore seemed to like those chairs very much, considering he would motion everyone he talked to in his house to sit there once a conversation got serious. 'You know what an apprentice is Noah?' The man asked.

'Of course,' Noah felt a bit offended. He was known for his intellect, it was almost rude for someone to question it this way. Not that Noah was angered by the question, no he was just slightly annoyed. 'It's when one is bound by legal agreement to work for another in return for instruction in a trade, art, or business.'

'Yes, in most cases it is. What I want to propose to you is something slightly different though. Remember how the rules say you have to earn your living here by working?'

Noah just arched his eyebrow. Another degrading question, really?

'Well what you've been doing so far is exercise, not work.'

'What about mapping out the area?'

'I already have a map of my own, I wouldn't need yours. It's all part of your training that'll help you solve the mystery.'

'I'm starting to question that more and more, but go on.. get to your point.'

Theodore grinned. 'I will get to it then. I want you to be my apprentice just like the twins said. Not as an apprentice candle maker though, no I want you to help watching over the city.'

'Phrasing it like that reminds me of Batman,' Noah muttered. 'Your deep voice even sounds like him.'

Theodore arched an eyebrow at that comment. 'Of who?'

'A made up figure, known from stories in which he protects the city.' Noah answered. He avoided the word "comic" since he didn't know if that would be breaking the rule of talking of the outside world. This since he hadn't seen any in the town. 'But what would that include? Watching over the city?'

'Just making sure that everyone fares well. You just walk around, check up where help is necessary and offer help if it's the case. Keep an eye on what happens and keep in check that everyone contributes to the society. What would mean checking if the crops on the farm are doing okay, or that the locksmiths have not been skipping out of work.'

'Sounds like what the guards should be doing if you ask me.' Noah commented.

'Some parts are, but we are low on guards if you haven't noticed already. They are more oriented on protecting the city and watching out for rule breakers. I decided to take some of their tasks on me, since everyone is already well-stocked on candles and I don't like having too much free time.' Theodore smirked. 'Also I just like knowing what's going on. It better to know things first-hand then hearing some stories from Richard. I like to stick with the truth.'

'What would I gain with becoming your apprentice?'

'You would be well-respected throughout the village. They will help you without hesitation if you show them you take your job seriously. This will help you greatly in your investigation. Also you will know about almost everything that happens in the village, quite useful for someone who wants to find out it's mystery if you ask me.'

'I have to admit that it sounds quite convenient, still...' Noah put his hand on his chin. He couldn't believe he was actually considering this. Being an apprentice. He had to suppress an ironic smile. It sounded just like a fantasy story. If he played a fantasy RPG however Noah was always a master at his trade. Accepting apprentice hood seemed like a step down in comparison.

'Still not convinced aren't we?' A smile cracked on Theodore's face as he quietly shook his head in disbelief. 'What if I promise to answer more of your questions once you accept my offer? Now you're just my temporary guest, I would treat you better if I knew I could trust you. I want conviction, not neglect.'

'Why don't you pick an apprentice from your own village if you want one so badly?' Noah still didn't trust it. Something was fishy about the man's persistence. Sure this was a game, and Theodore was an actor... but that didn't seem to matter anymore. Noah had become accustomed to his life here, it already began to feel natural. The villagers just seemed so real, there was no flaw in their acting.. So Noah decided to act as if it was all real, since it didn't seem to be so far from reality now anyways. 'I won't stay here forever, what use in training someone who will just leave anyway?'

'What makes you think you would be my first apprentice?' Theodore laughed. 'You regard yourself extremely high don't you?

'Let me guess, they quit because they realized you were a creep after all?'

'No they died,' Theodore's smile faded. 'It's a shame really, they were good people.. and they had so much potential..' The man almost whispered those last words.

Noah doubted if he would say anything about it. The sentence: "I'm sorry for your loss" seemed to fit the situation, but Noah always failed to see the logic in it. How could he be sorry if he wasn't involved in any way? So instead he just asked a question. 'Because of the werewolf attack?'

'Yes,' Theodore's showed a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes. 'They were investigating the mystery, just like you. They just weren't careful enough.' The man sighed. 'As for why I haven't picked anyone from my village, not just anyone will do. Most are too young, inexperienced or just have no talent.'

'And you're saying I do posses those qualities? That's why you chose me?'

'You're just past your teens, so you have experience enough. And you seemed to care about the villagers almost immediately, as shown by helping the kids. Plus you showed intellect. Don't think too highly of yourself though. I did doubt myself seeing as your physique is horrible to say the least. Your body is however easier to train then your mind, and I was convinced I could at least help you build up some stamina.'

Noah couldn't believe that Theodore made such a well thought out choice immediately when all the contestants had arrived. This did explain why he chose him, but it still didn't feel right. Noah didn't know why he still had his doubts though. Maybe he was just paranoid, there wasn't a good reason behind those feelings after all. Still he wanted to double check the man's intentions before making a decision. 'Last question, what would **you** gain with me as an apprentice?

'You're not the only one who wants this mystery to be solved, or to be better put it, rid this village of its werewolf curse. I wanted to help at least one of you, to avoid what happened last time. If I can create some kind of new hero for the villagers they will have hope in a better turn out. I screw up last time, I reacted way to late and I just know that the villagers are still out there. They need someone else to really lift up their spirits. Also I want to teach someone what I know. And last but not least some help would be really nice. So are my intentions honest enough for you or do you still not except? You can quit being my apprentice once go away.'

'So I'm stuck with the job until I leave Scear?'

'Well I could also fire you if you did badly, since everything you will do then will be directly associated with me. But I don't see that happening, I can see greatness in you, and with that I don't just mean your intellect. You have way more potential, in a lot of ways.'

Noah was surprised by this. The man actually seemed to be genuine! Nobody ever praised anything of him except his intellect. It could be that Theodore knew that and that he was deliberately playing on that feeling, but would he give the man too much credit with that? Could someone read another person that well after only spending a few days together? Still Noah could help but feel warm at Theodore's compliment. Even his parents never praised him for anything except being a genius. He never minded that though, since it was his most striking feature.

Now it seemed like that hadn't been enough though. Like everyone only appreciated him because of his brain.

Noah shook his head. Why was he being sentimental all of a sudden? That wasn't like him. He sighed, this thinking spree he had gotten himself into was tiring. And if there was one thing he didn't like it was being tired, he was way too lazy for that. 'Sure,' Noah said eventually. 'I'll accept. I'm still not your pet though, or a personal project.'

'Of course.'

Noah left his house around the same time Gwen did. She gave Noah a sly smile.

'Hey,' she said. 'Wanna go check if there is any silver available here before we join the campfire? I don't like the idea of being unarmed against werewolves, no matter how cool they are.'

'Good idea,' Noah admitted. 'Don't know where to look though, since there is no silversmith as far as I know.'

Gwen put her finger against her chin. 'Maybe we should ask Duncan, he's working at the smithy. It could be possible that they also make silver there.'

'I highly doubt it.' Noah said, the idea of visiting Duncan didn't seem very appealing to him. He never liked the guy, and he was pretty sure that was also the case otherwise.

'Still, do you have a better idea?'

Noah sighed. 'Let's visit piercings then,' he said with obvious aversion. 'Maybe we're lucky and the guy isn't there.'

'He's not that bad you know.' Gwen grinned as they started walking to the smithy. 'He's a softie now that's only trying to be bad.'

'Well he could have figured that out before ripping off my pants.' Noah muttered.

'He did that, didn't he?' Gwen held in a laugh.

Noah rolled his eyes. 'Are you still in love with the guy or what?'

'No way.' Gwen smirked at the thought of it. 'Not that I hate him or anything, we still get along. His remaining love for Courtney was just so obvious that it became sickening. He's more of a friend type, that has a good taste in movies and whatnot. '

'So good taste is defined by liking gore, jump scares and overly used horror plots?'

'Pretty much,' Gwen knew that Noah always provoked people with his words, so she didn't give it much attention. Some people just never changed.

The smithy wasn't a far walk, it took Gwen and Noah between five and ten minutes to reach it. Upon arriving they immediately saw Duncan. He was just putting out the fire that he had probably used for melting before. Behind him was a strong bunky man that didn't seem as intimidating like you would have expected. He was probably just like Duncan, a tough exterior but a softie at heart.

'Could we ask something?' Gwen asked the two man. Duncan turned his head in curiosity when hearing her voice. Seeing Noah with Gwen turned that curiosity in surprise. His brows furrowed a bit.

'Came looking for me eh?' Duncan grinned. 'I'm sorry but I have plans for tonight.'

'Only basking in your manliness is enough,' Noah deadpanned. 'You can leave now so that the grownups can talk.'

'Looking for a fight squarebrain?' Duncan cracked his knuckles and walked up to Noah with a big grin.

Noah was far from intimidated. 'Can't think of your own insults anymore? That's just sad.'

If Duncan was even planning to hold back then he would throw that thought away immediately. 'Now you're gonna get it.' Before he could get close to Noah a hand held him back though.

'That's not how you greet guests Duncan,' the man said with a low and husky voice. 'What did you want to ask?' The man asked Gwen, since she seemed to be the only civil one around.

'Do you also melt silver here?' Gwen asked.

'Looking for some nice jewelry aren't we?' the man asked with a smile.

'I'm not,' Gwen pointed to Noah. 'But he is.'

The smith examined the boy from top to bottom. 'I hadn't expected you to be into that actually.' The man admitted. 'I don't judge though.'

'I'm not,' Noah grumbled.

Gwen grinned, she liked this way too much. 'It's not for him, but for his to-be girlfriend.' She gave Noah a sweet smile what he answered with an expression that looked far from amused.

'Sorry I misjudged you kid.' The man apologized to Noah. 'I'd like to help you, but we've got no silver.'

'Know anywhere else we can find it?' Gwen asked.

The man shook his head. 'Sorry dear, but you won't find it anywhere around here. The last time we had a silversmith was... around three years back. We had nobody to fill his spot once he.. passed.' The man smiled sadly. 'A good man that one. Never really got what happened there. All the silver we had was sold soon after, leaving us with none at all. I can offer you something in bronze though, I got loads of that. We also have quite some crystals that we could use.'

'You actually make jewelry here?' Noah questioned. 'You hardly seem the type.'

'I'm not bad at it, but my hands are too big for the tiny details, so my wife usually finishes them. She's far better. Want to place an order? She has been sitting around too much lately anyway, some work would lift her spirits big time.'

'I don-' Noah was about to decline the offer when Gwen interfered.

'Don't be sad Noah,' Gwen said. 'I know that silver would have seem more classy, but this still sounds really good. I'd say order that necklace! She will be majorly happy!'

'Are we talking about the cheerleader here?' Duncan questioned. 'He actually thinks he has a shot at that?'

'Weren't you the one who suggested it first?' Noah said, being too proud to back out Gwen's lie now.

'I didn't actually believe it.' Duncan couldn't contain his laughter. 'And you support him in this Gwen? Shouldn't you know better?'

'Oh I do know better.' Gwen smirked. 'Better then you.'

'I'll place the order!' the man concluded with a big grin. 'Don't back out now boy, girls like gestures like that. Got any wishes for it?'

'A flower.' Noah answered almost immediately. Gwen and Duncan couldn't believe their ears, especially Gwen. She had just been teasing Noah because she heard the rumors of him and Sammy having feelings for each other. She hadn't expected him to actually put thought into it though. It was just.. wow.. 'Just something simple, she isn't the flashy type.' Noah went on. 'But it must show some sort of.. willfulness. Think you can manage that big man?'

'My wife can handle anything, don't worry. When do you want to have it?'

'In three days.'

'Before the next campfire I see.' The man patted Noah on the back, so hard it made Noah almost trip. The man probably wasn't well aware of his own strength. 'I'll make it happen, it'll be the best damn necklace anyone has ever seen. Don't lose your guts though, three days is a long wait.'

'I can manage.' Noah said with no emotion whatsoever. 'Let's go Gwen, the order is placed.'

'Sure..' Gwen answered with slight hesitance as she followed Noah. She was still blown away by Noah's sudden interest. Just as Duncan, who didn't even make a smart comment.

Once Gwen was sure that the smith and Duncan couldn't hear them anymore she let her surprise out. 'Are you seriously gonna give that to Sammy?'

Noah shrugged. 'I haven't thought about that really. I guess it would be a waste to just throw "the best damn necklace anyone has ever seen" away.' Noah answered, quoting the smith.

'Don't act all indifferent now, your description was far to elaborate for you to pull that off now. Why a flower?'

'What had you expected me to say, a skull?' Noah said sarcastically. 'I'm sorry but I think only you and Courtney consider that romantic. I just wanted it to seem real, that was the purpose after all. Not letting Duncan know about our clues.'

'Still..' Gwen wasn't convinced. 'Just simple, not flashy and willful? You don't just think of that without an inspiration source. You thought of Sammy when you said that, didn't you?'

Noah sighed. 'Will you drop it when I say yes? Because then it's an absolute yes. I couldn't think of anyone else because I'm head over heels in love with her.' The sarcastic tone in his voice dripped of every sentence as thick syrup.

'You might say that now,' Gwen grinned. 'But I can't wait to see who'll wear that necklace in three days. If it's Theodore I'll be very disappointed in you.'

Noah didn't answer, because really, he had no idea what would happen with the necklace either. It was more because of Duncan's insults that Noah went with the whole cover up from Gwen.

...

..

If he was honest though he did have Sammy in mind for it, if he had to give it to someone. Not as a to-be girlfriend gift though, far from it. He just thought that if someone deserved it, it would be her. If she could stand up to her sister, she could become just what he had described for the necklace. She just had to spring open and cease to be just a flower bud, she had to show her true colors instead of hiding them.

* * *

**Okay.. it's not really the campfire yet. They are heading towards it now though! ;)**

**List of known OC's in the village:  
****Theodore: **The candle maker and unofficial leader of the village. He's seems like a shady man, but he's well respected and has the wisdom and strength to prove he's worth all that admiration. -_Noah lives with him.  
_**Richard: **The innkeeper. A jolly middle-aged man who knows all the rumors in town. -_Heather, Amy and Topher live with him.  
_**Margaret: **The old, but very kind woman, who takes care of the herbs used in food and potions. _-Sammy and Ella live with her.  
_**Hansel:** The chirurgeon. A kind old man that takes care of all the sick. He doesn't like talking about the werewolf accident, seems frightened of it. _Bridgette and Dawn live with him.  
_**Cara and Mia Heartling:** The lock makers. They are twins and love toying with people's minds, also fond of flirting it seems. They act as one and look exactly the same. (even have the same scar) _Gwen lives with them.  
_**Colbert:** The tailor. A skinny and vain man. He won't take less than perfection. _Lives alone.  
_**Timmy:** A kid with a injured leg, he doesn't back down from playing because of it though!  
**Nathaniel**: The oldest kid of the group of kids Noah encountered, their unofficial leader and the most responsible one. (also really well witted)  
**Lilly:** A spoiled and very enthusiastic girl, one of the kids in Nathaniel's group.

**POLL NEWS:****  
I posted a new poll because I would love to hear your opinions for Fear of Scear! You can try to influence me in who should die once the "possible deaths" part of my summary comes true! You can pick up to 5 people you don't like, so go nuts everyone! ^^ **_(might change this to who you want to survive in the future, I'll note you guys when that happens!)_** If you feel like you don't know some of them well enough because of their absence in my story, then I'd suggest you wait with voting for like two chapters. I plan to make a lot of other characters show up to remind y'all they are still in the story! (like Harold, Courtney, Cody, Sierra..)**

**ALSO:  
**Have you guys seen the first episode of the Ridonculous Race? If not watch it! The first episode is (at the moment I'm writing this at least) online on youtube! And yes *fangirl squeak* Noah is in it! He's paired up with Owen, who's not a favorite of mine but I love him and Noah being buddies! Their interactions were very cute in World Tour and I hope it'll continue to be the case in this show! ^^

**Did you guys like the first episode of Ridonculous Race? And what did you think of this chapter? If you like to answer one of these questions then there's a blank space in the review section below! ;)**


	19. Campfire: The haircut

**Hey! Do you guys remember me? …well I don't.. ^/^;**

**Nah just kidding. I'm back maybe! Depends if there are still people out there wanting to read my fanfic and if I can find enough time to update more. Lotsa stuff happened 2016, lots of reasons as to why I didn't update. But most of these reasons are gone…. Except that Noah kinda has a canon gf now and that I forgot bits of the story.**

…

**I know, so bad! T.T**

**Still I found it a waste to quit without giving it another try, so I'm just gonna go with what I make up now. So some things might go a bit different than I had originally planned.**

* * *

Noah couldn't believe how easy he was getting along with Gwen now. Could it actually be that he got better at making friends? Noah didn't know what to think of that. It was positive, of course, but he just had to get used to it. The whole training thing with Theodore made him feel better about himself, in a way he never would've imagined. He could actually notice his body becoming stronger. What was weird since he hadn't trained for that long.. maybe the medicine he got from Chirurgeon Hansel had something to do with it…

"Noah." Bridgette said. "You okay with that?"

"What?" Noah said confused, he totally hadn't been paying attention.

Bridgette sighed. "I just wanted to talk to you. I'm worried about Sammy."

"Why do you tell me?"

"Don't play dumb Noah. Anyways, I haven't seen her yet. She said she'd join the campfire soon…" Bridgette looked at the street that Sammy would use to get here, still nobody to be seen. "It's been more than an hour."

"Again Bridgette, why tell me?" Noah of course knew that he was the one that upset Sammy, but why would she want to rub it in? Didn't he tell her what happened? That he already felt regret?

"Because it could be because you still haven't apologised to her, she's probably afraid to face you."

"I told-.."

"..-You need to tell her yourself!" Bridgette pleaded. "She doesn't deserve.."

"Hey Bridgette, Noah!" suddenly said a voice behind Noah.

"Sammy!?" Bridgette exclaimed. "What have you done to your hair?"

Noah turned to look at the person behind him, Samey. What he saw was.. different. It seemed more.. Sammy. Her hair was quite a bit shorter, now it just about didn't reach her shoulders. And the look in her eyes seemed.. brighter somehow.

"Well uhm.." Sammy turned red seeing as the two eyed her. "I thought it was time for something different you know? Colbert cut it just now… do you guys.. like it?"

"I definitely do!" Bridgette said, surprised but happy by the initiative Sammy took. This move definitely set her apart from her sister Amy. Everyone would be able to see which one is Amy.

Sammy looked at Noah, waiting for a reaction. But he was still eyeing her. He also hadn't seen the outfit that Sammy was wearing before. It was a cute simple greenish dress with under it some gray leggings to keep her legs warm in this cold evening breeze. And the vest she wore was more of a brownish tint, it fitted perfectly.

"Noah? Can you please say something?" Sammy asked, not able to bear the embarrassment any longer.

Noah snapped out of his trance and looked her in the eyes. "It looks beautiful Sammy." He said without thinking. Which he soon realised. "I mean, it really sets you apart from Amy. That's euh.. beautiful."

Bridgette giggled. "I'm gonna go check something by Harold. I'll see you guys later." Quickly she ran off, she didn't want to disturb the two lovebirds. She had no idea that Noah could be such a cute awkward guy. Sure this would go well.

"Noah I…" Sammy looked away shyly. "I'm sorry for my behaviour before." She turned to look at Noah again, smiling brightly. "But believe me when I say that I will ignore your advice no longer. Thanks you squarebrain."

Noah's enticement of Sammy's bright smile quickly faded with that last comment. "Squarebrain? Really?" he laughed. "I thought you would've been the last one to call me that."

"I got it from a gal that spoke some true words." Sammy smiled. Jo had been real nice to her, she wouldn't forget that.

"Hey Sammy, you know I'm sorry right?" Noah said. "Even I am not always perfect, I screwed up."

"No problem there, I'm okay." Sammy smiled. "I am very forgiving of my friends."

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**Here some late REVIEW replies:**

**acosta perez jose ramiro****: **Nice that you liked the townsfolk list, and nice that you liked the first episode of RR too! (maybe by now the whole season haha)

**musicalBooknerd13: **Cool that you wouldn't watch it yet cuz it was a leak, I couldn't resist at the time haha. I remember that I looked at your profile right away and really liked it! But if I'm right it has changed a bit now.. if I remember correctly that is. Great that you liked the chapter! Awesomeness! ^/^

**WinLik3aBosS: **Being busy? I totally don't get that at all…. Hehe ^/^; No of course, I'm real busy myself. Great you found the time to read the chapters though! And that you liked it! :D

What you wrote about how TD was changing? Yeah I totally agree. It's a shame. There are too few teen cartoons. And no worries! Even though I never commented I liked your long review a lot! :D:D

**Simply The Author: **Love your name! xD But anyways, great that you like that Noah is a bit more sweet sometimes in my story! And it's even more great that my fanfic managed to make you laugh! ^^ I hope I'll still see you in the next chapter!

**CrazyNoahFangirl123: **Cool that you just started reading that day! Sadly I didn't upload more from that point on though, sorry.

**Pizzawizz: **Such a DIY channel would be too awesome for words! xD

**Sooo that's REALLY short. I know, I know. It's just that this was more of a try out to see how the writing would go and if anybody is still interested. I'm very busy with test lately (yay for going to college) so I knew that I wouldn't have time to write further in quite a while probably. So yeah, that's why I posted this part already. Otherwise I would probably start this chapter over AGAIN. ^/^; If I'm going to continue the chapters will be longer again. ;)**

**Let me know what you think and if you wanna see more! (it will include an angry Amy's reaction to Sammy's new haircut! Who would wanna miss out on that? xD)**


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